(Alliance News) - On Tuesday, European markets closed mixed, with Paris' CAC 40 struggling the most while the FTSE Mib closed slightly higher.

Among the macroeconomic news of the day, the Eurozone unemployment rate stood at 6.4% in October, in line with the revised September figure and slightly above market forecasts of 6.3%.

In Italy, according to provisional data published by Istat on Tuesday, unemployment stood at 6.0% from 6.2% in September. The employment rate was 27.7% from 62.6% in the previous month.

The Mib closed up 0.2% at 43,354.83, the Mid-Cap fell 0.2% to 58,284.98, the Small-Cap gained 0.4% to 35,868.88, and the Italy Growth rose 0.4% to 8,494.41.

Other European stock markets were mixed: the FTSE 100 closed slightly down, the CAC 40 lost 0.3%, and the DAX 40 rose 0.5%.

"European and US indices and cryptocurrencies benefited from a rebound in the Japanese bond market and a growing pro-risk attitude," commented Axel Rudolph of IG.

"Increased US economic optimism in December and the increased likelihood of a Fed rate cut in December, now at 87%, have pushed US stocks and cryptocurrencies higher, despite the OECD forecasting a slowdown in global growth until 2026," the analyst concluded.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, Mediobanca's extraordinary shareholders' meeting, down 0.3%, held yesterday behind closed doors with the designated representative, almost unanimously approved the statutory changes ratifying the transfer of control to MPS after the September OPAS.

Monte dei Paschi di Siena, at the bottom of the basket with a 3.7% decline, holds 86.3% of the capital; 89.7% was represented at the meeting, with almost 100% of the votes in favor.

In addition, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena confirmed its capital strength, having received the ECB's final decision on consolidated capital requirements starting in December, following the SREP review in December 2024.

UniCredit - up 0.8% - announced on Tuesday that it had purchased 1.0 million of its own ordinary shares at an average price of EUR63.1065 each, for a total value of EUR65.9 million.

Intesa Sanpaolo, up 0.5%, announced that it had granted a EUR35 million loan to Yachtline 1618 Spa, a Pisa-based company specializing in the design and manufacture of high-end furnishings for yachts and luxury residences.

According to an analysis this week by Claudio Guerrini of Evaluation.it, Italgas shares - down 0.1% on the day - continue to stand out for their stability. The stock has a lower than average market risk, with a beta of less than 1, confirming the solidity of a regulated and essentially monopolistic business. Italgas has a higher valuation in terms of both price/earnings ratio and price/book value.

Iveco Group, up 0.5% to EUR18.60, announced that its IDV brand, which specializes in defense and civil protection vehicles, will supply an additional 658 tactical logistics trucks to the Italian Army, expanding the original contract signed in 2024 for 1,453 vehicles.

Lottomatica was the best performer, up 3.2%, while Saipem was sold off, down 3.7%.

In the mid-cap sector, ERG announced that, through its subsidiary Furukraft, it had reached an agreement to sign a 10-year Power Purchase Agreement with Skellefteå Kraft, a Swedish municipal energy company and one of the leading electricity producers in Sweden. ERG shares ended trading up 1.7%.

NewPrinces Group, up 6.7%, completed the acquisition of 100% of Carrefour Italia and its subsidiaries, following approval by the European Commission.

ENAV, up 1.7%, signed a contract as agent with Teledife – Direzione Informatica, Telematica e Tecnologie Avanzate del Ministero della Difesa (Teledife - Directorate of Information Technology, Telematics and Advanced Technologies of the Ministry of Defense) for the modernization, by 2032, of radar surveillance systems at six Air Force operational bases: Grosseto, Trapani, Gioia del Colle, Istrana, Amendola, and Galatina.

The work will be carried out by the Temporary Consortium led by ENAV, Techno Sky, a wholly owned subsidiary of ENAV, and Leonardo.

Cementir Holding - flat at EUR17.50 - has completed the sale of 100% of the share capital of Kars Çimento to Arkoz Madencilik for a total enterprise value of EUR51 million on a cash and debt-free basis.

Purchases of 5.7% on Banco Desio e Brianza; sales on Sanlorenzo of 2.9%.

On the Small-Cap, Brioschi Sviluppo Immobiliare - down 0.3% - following last week's announcement, announced that its subsidiary Milanofiori Sviluppo has sold all 73,769 shares still held in the Fleurs Fund to a number of professional institutional investors.

BasicNet, down 1.6%, completed the acquisition of the rights to the Woolrich brand for Europe and 100% of Woolrich Europe, the company that handles its distribution and retail.

EPH sold 9.3% at EUR0.378 per share; purchases of 7.7% at EUR5.60 on La Centrale del Latte d'Italia.

Among SMEs, ErreDue - up 5.5% - announced that it had signed an agreement with JMG Cranes, a world leader in the design and manufacture of battery-powered mobile cranes, for the supply of a 1 MW green hydrogen production plant.

Circle, which fell 0.3%, announced on Tuesday that its subsidiary eXyond had been awarded the contract put out to tender by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport - Directorate-General for Road Safety and Road Transport for the provision of support services for the functional management of CCISS - Viaggiare Informati.

GM Leather, down 4.4%, announced that the board has decided to propose a capital increase of up to EUR 4.5 million, including a share premium, to the extraordinary shareholders' meeting.

Culti Milano, which closed down 2.7%, sold its remaining stake in Bakel Spa - equal to 22.1% - to the majority shareholder MGB, linked to the founder Raffaella Gregoris.

ESI, down 1.4%, completed its first proprietary plant called "La Cava," located in the municipality of Monterosi in Viterbo. The 3 MWp power plant, built through the special purpose vehicle La Cava Srl, wholly owned by ESI, represents the first piece of the 20 MWp pipeline that ESI plans to develop as an IPP over the next three years, as explained by the company in a statement.

In New York last night, the Dow Jones gained 0.1%, the Nasdaq rose 0.1%, and the S&P 500 moved up 0.1%.

On the currency front, the euro traded at USD 1.1606 from USD 1.1625 at Monday's stock market close, while the pound traded at USD 1.3195 from USD 1.328 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD 63.28 per barrel, down from USD 63.20 per barrel at yesterday evening's close, while gold is trading at USD 4,178.74 per ounce, down from USD 4,252.58 per ounce on Monday evening.

On Wednesday's economic calendar, at 0930 CET, the European Central Bank president is scheduled to speak, while between 0915 CET and 1030 CET, the services and composite PMIs for Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the Eurozone, and the UK will be released.

The Eurozone producer price index is expected at 1100 CET, while at 1300 CET the focus will shift to US mortgages, followed by US import-export cost data at 1430 CET.

Also at 2:30 p.m. CET, Christine Lagarde is scheduled to give a new speech, which she will repeat at 4:30 p.m. CET.

In between, at 4:00 p.m. CET, US labor market data will be released.

No significant announcements are expected from the Italian stock exchange.

By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter

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