(Alliance News) - European stock exchanges remain firmly in positive territory mid-session Wednesday after a clear-cut victory in the U.S. presidential election by Donald Trump is emerging overseas.
Thus, the FTSE Mib rises 0.6 percent to 34,681.54, Mid-Cap gains 0.8 percent to 46,336.38, Small-Cap advances 0.1 percent to 27,947.09, and Italy Growth is in the red 0.2 percent to 7,894.98.
Paris' CAC 40 advances 1.2%, Frankfurt's DAX 40 rises 1.1% and London's FTSE 100 gains 1.2%.
On the macroeconomic side, Italy's tertiary sector extended its momentum in October, also bringing broader private sector activity into positive territory, S&P Global reported Wednesday.
Italy's services PMI rose to 52.4 points in October from 50.5 points in September, with the rate marking the largest expansion since June.
In Germany, factory orders rose 4.2 percent on a monthly basis in September, exceeding market expectations by 1.5 percent and following the previous month's downwardly revised 5.4 percent decline, the steepest since January, while the services PMI index rose to 51.6 points in October from 50.6 points in September and above preliminary estimates of 51.4, as released by S&P Global on Wednesday.
On the currency front, Trump's victory pushes the greenback, which strengthens against the euro and major currencies.
"Market rumors of EUR/USD parity are becoming more insistent," explains Stephen Innes - managing partner at SPI Asset Management - "as traders consider the possibility of Europe erecting its own trade barriers to protect local jobs and industries."
On the highest-capitalization list in Piazza Affari, best mid-day performance for Tenaris, which rises 5.8 percent.
It is followed by DiaSorin, up 4.4 percent. Yesterday, the pharmaceutical blue chip reported that it closed the first nine months of the year with a profit of EUR141 million from EUR112 million as of September 30, 2023.
For the six-month period, revenues stood at EUR876 million from EUR846 million in the first nine months of 2023.
Also doing well at the turnaround were STMicroelectonics - up 4.2% - and Leonardo - up 4.3%.
Eni - up 0.4% - reported Wednesday that Plenitude has started production at its Bouillac solar plant, which is located in the town of the same name in the Dordogne region of France and has an installed capacity of 5MW.
UniCredit slows after the opening and is in the green by 0.1 percent. Net income at the Piazza Gae Aulenti bank rose to EUR2.51 billion in the third quarter from EUR2.32 billion in the same period a year earlier and to EUR7.75 billion from EUR6.70 billion in the nine months.
Gross operating magine rose to EUR3.85 billion in the quarter from EUR3.64 billion and to EUR11.95 billion in the nine months from EUR10.88 billion.
CET 1 ratio was 16.1 percent as of Sept. 30 compared to 17.2 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2023 while RoTE stood at 19.7 percent from 18.3 percent.
In addition, the board approved the distribution of an interim dividend for 2024 of EUR1.44 billion, for 92.61 cents for each of the 1.6 million outstanding shares. The interim dividend will be paid on Nov. 20, with an ex-dividend date on the 18th.
At the bottom of the main list is Inwit, down 2.8 percent. Last night, with markets closed, the company reported that it closed the first nine months of the year with a net profit of EUR266 million, up 6.9 percent from EUR248.9 million as of September 30, 2023.
During the period, consolidated revenues stood at EUR772.1 million from EUR713.2 million in the first nine months of 2023.
In addition, JPMorgan cut its target price on the stock to EUR13.00 from EUR14.10, with an 'overweight' recommendation.
On the Mid-Cap, Digital Value continues its early rebound, gaining 8.7 percent.
Credem, up 7.4 percent, is also doing well. The bank reported Tuesday that it closed the first nine months with net income up 11 percent year-on-year to EUR485.9 million from EUR439.0 million in the same period a year earlier.
Angelo Campani, Credem's general manager, said, "We are well equipped to face the coming months in the best possible way, thanks to the quality and commitment of our people and on the strength of a business model in which we strongly believe, based on the breadth and diversification of the offer, as well as on constant investments in innovation and digitalization, while always maintaining a high attention to the sustainability of our operations."
Also on the podium was Buzzi, up 5.9 percent, despite posting revenues of EUR3.18 billion in the first nine months, down from EUR3.20 billion in the same period a year earlier.
Cement and concrete sales volumes are down 6.4 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, "penalized by the challenging market environment in Central Europe and the lack of recovery in Italy and the U.S. during the summer months," the company points out.
On the Small-Cap, Olidata, recovers part of last sessions' losses after its involvement in the Sogei investigation. The stock rises 3.6 percent at mid-day.
Industrie De Nora, loses 1.9 percent. The company closed the first nine months of the year with a net profit of EUR52.5 million from EUR198.6 million as of September 30, 2023.
The figure as of September 30 last year includes EUR133.2 million in net income from the listing of the thyssenkrupp nucera joint venture. The company explained in a note that net of these proceeds the result would have been EUR65.4 million.
Somec also hurt, down 2.8 percent. The company reported Tuesday that its U.S. subsidiary Fabbrica, part of its Horizons division, engineered naval architecture systems and civil facades, had signed two new agreements worth EUR50 million.
Ulysses Biomed - up 6.7 percent - leads the mid-session SME list.
Idntt also runs - up 2.8 percent - after it announced Wednesday that the first video game of subsidiary IDNTT+, "The Island of the Hagfish by Fattygamer89," a fantasy universe born from the imagination of creator Fattygamer89 and created in Fortnite, will be launched on December 1.
Datrix -- up 1.9 percent -- reported Wednesday that it has been awarded PNRR funds worth about EUR900,000.
Pozzi Milano loses 1.9% after it announced Tuesday that it had won an order worth more than EUR1.6 million to supply products in Poland.
Worst stock on the list, Solid World Group down 10%.
In Asia, the Nikkei closed Wednesday up 2.6 percent to 39,480.67, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.1 percent to 3,383.81, and the Hang Seng closed down 2.2 percent to 20,538.38.
In New York, the Dow closed Tuesday up 1.0 percent to 42,221.88, the Nasdaq rose 1.4 percent to 18,439.17 while the S&P 500 gained 1.2 percent to 5,782.76.
Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0747 from USD1.0918 on Tuesday in closing European equities. The pound is worth USD1.2890 versus USD1.3016 last night.
Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD71.17 per barrel from USD76.11 per barrel Tuesday night. Gold trades at USD2,732.50 an ounce from USD2,749.00 an ounce last night.
On Wednesday's afternoon economic calendar, 30-year mortgage data are released from the US at 1300 CET while crude oil stocks data are expected at 1630 CET.
By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter
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