(Alliance News) - On Thursday, at the opening, major European indices showed mixed performances, with Piazza Affari nearing the 45,800-point mark and London emerging as the weakest stock exchange in the Old Continent.
Oil prices retreated after five consecutive sessions of gains, as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East partially subsided. The suspension of the latest initiatives by the US administration in the region has eased immediate fears of supply disruptions in a key oil-producing area.
"However, geopolitical risk has not disappeared. Tensions in major producing regions remain high, and developments in Eastern Europe and Latin America continue to inject uncertainty into energy supply chains," explained Daniel Takieddine, Co-founder and CEO of Sky Links Capital Group.
Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.3% at 45,770.40, the Mid-Cap is in the green by 0.1% at 61,292.41, the Small-Cap is fractionally down at 37,995.96, while Italy Growth advances 0.3% to 8,869.42.
London's FTSE 100 is fractionally in the red, Paris' CAC 40 gains 0.1%, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 slips 0.1%.
On the macroeconomic front, wholesale prices in Germany rose by 1.2% year-on-year in December, down from the previous month's 1.5% growth, which had marked the highest rate since February.
The data was released Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office.
Back in Milan, on the main blue-chip list of Piazza Affari, Prysmian leads the pack, up 2.9% at EUR91.88, with over 270,000 shares traded. The stock is buoyed by positive analyst revisions, with Goldman raising its target price to EUR105.00 from EUR102.00 and Citigroup revising its price objective to EUR102.00 from EUR91.00.
UniCredit rises 1.2% after dismissing recent speculation about a possible stake in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena as speculative and unfounded. The latter is down 0.5%, as are rumors of an alleged interest in acquiring additional shares.
Inwit slips 0.1% after announcing on Wednesday the successful additional EUR150 million issuance on the EUR750 million bond issued in April 2025, with a 3.75% coupon and maturity set for 1 April 2030.
Unipol Assicurazioni has completed the placement of a EUR1 billion Restricted Tier 1 subordinated bond aimed at institutional investors, with demand exceeding EUR4.2 billion and 93% of the bonds allocated to foreign investors. Unipol shares advance 0.6%.
Assicurazioni Generali slips 0.1%. The Lion of Trieste announced Wednesday that Giulio Terzariol has taken on the role of general manager and deputy CEO.
Among the declining stocks are Ferrari, down 0.8%, and Saipem, which falls 1.1%.
At the bottom of the main list at the open is Eni, down 2.0%, with over 2.5 million shares changing hands.
On the Mid-Cap, Technoprobe leads the board with a 5.2% rise.
Webuild announced that, heading the Metro C Consortium together with Vianini Lavori, it will build the new T1 section of Rome's Metro Line C between Clodio/Mazzini and Farnesina, for a total value of EUR776 million, of which EUR268 million attributable to the group. The stock, however, slips 0.1%.
Banca Ifis is down 1.2% after completing the placement of a Tier 2 subordinated bond aimed at institutional investors. The ten-year issue, maturing in April 2036, carries a 4.546% coupon and is callable after five years, for a total amount of EUR400 million.
Iren advances 0.4% after announcing that, through its subsidiary Iren Mercato, it has signed a Power Purchase Agreement with Alpiq for the supply of wind-generated electricity produced in Italy.
At the bottom of the mid-cap list is BFF Bank, which drops over 9.0%.
On the Small-Cap segment, Altea Green Power stands out at the open, up 3.5% following the previous day's positive performance.
On the opposite end of the list, Aeffe drops 4.6%.
EuroGroup Laminations, down 0.6%, provided an update Wednesday on the transaction involving its majority shareholder EMS Euro Management Services and Ferrum Investment, a newly formed vehicle controlled by funds managed by FountainVest, as previously announced on 28 July.
The company, confirming what Reuters reported in the afternoon, announced that EMS and FountainVest have obtained authorization under Italy's Golden Power legislation. The green light is subject to compliance with specific behavioral requirements deemed suitable to protect strategic national interests, in line with current regulations.
Aedes, with no trades, announced Wednesday that the board of directors has fully exercised the delegation granted by the extraordinary shareholders' meeting of 18 November 2025 for the capital increase.
Esprinet, down 0.5%, announced Wednesday that it has been admitted to the collaborative compliance regime of the Italian Revenue Agency, an advanced model of relations between companies and the tax administration based on transparency, legal certainty, and proactive risk management.
Among SMEs, a positive start for eVISO, up 1.9%, after the company announced Thursday a strong increase in supply points linked to the agency channel, based on data from the Integrated Information System, a public body managing information flows for the electricity and gas markets.
In January, supply points in the power segment reached 2,077, up 113% from 974 in the July 2024–June 2025 period, while in the gas segment they rose to 873, up 134% from 373 in the same comparison period.
Good buying also on Fope, up 2.0%, which announced Thursday that consolidated net revenues as of 31 December 2025 stood at EUR93.6 million, up 27% compared to 31 December 2024.
ETS Engineering And Technical Services, up 2.6%, announced Wednesday it has been awarded the executive design contract for Lot 2 of the new Naples Metro Line, an intervention that is part of the connection between Naples Di Vittorio and Casoria Afragola stations and part of a total contract valued at around EUR691 million.
At the bottom of the alternative list, among the stocks with the highest trading value, is Dedem, down 2.9% due to profit-taking by investors after Wednesday's 9.1% surge.
gAIn360 - not yet traded - announced that the Lombardy Region has issued implementing decree number 4 dated 5 January 2025 as part of the Quota Lombardia measure, providing the company with a total grant of EUR361,181.30.
In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones lost 1.0% as did the Nasdaq, while the S&P 500 retreated 0.5%.
In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 0.4%, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.3%, while the Hang Seng lost 0.3%.
On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.632 from USD1.1656 at Wednesday's close of the European equity session, while the pound trades at USD1.3437 from USD1.3449 last night.
Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD64.22 per barrel from USD65.83 per barrel at Wednesday's European equity close, while gold is worth USD4,602.43 an ounce from USD4,619.19 an ounce last night.
On Thursday's economic calendar, at 1000 CET, Italian industrial production data is expected, while at 1200 CET, the country's trade balance report will be published.
At 1430 CET, focus shifts to US labor with jobless claims data.
No significant announcements are expected from Piazza Affari.
By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter
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