(Alliance News) - On Friday, Piazza Affari was the only one to close in the green just above par, while major European indexes ended the week in negative territory the day after the European Central Bank cut rates, in the wake of the U.S. stock market where selling prevailed after macro data.

"Earlier gains dissipated as US Treasury yields strengthened. Yields rose to their highest levels in two weeks as markets prepare for the Federal Reserve's last meeting of the year. The yield on the 10-year bond rose to 4.36 percent, while the two-year yield rose to 4.21 percent, reflecting concerns about persistent inflation," comments Chris Beauchamp, analyst at IG.

The FTSE Mib on Friday closed up 0.1 percent at 34,888.79, the Mid-Cap closed in fractional green at 48,514.63, the Small-Cap ended in the red 0.1 percent at 28,489.34, and Italy Growth ended down 0.2 percent at 7,855.26.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 ends 0.1 percent in the red, Paris' CAC 40 gives up 0.2 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 loses 0.2 percent.

On the macroeconomic front, in the U.S., import and export prices rose to a significantly higher level in November than in October, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In Germany, exports fell more than expected in October as demand from the U.S. slowed sharply, official data showed Friday, in more bad news for Europe's largest economy.

In Milan, on the highest-capitalization list in Piazza Affari, best performance of the last session of the week for Telecom Italia, which ends ahead 2.7 percent.

The telecommunications company received a communication yesterday from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Retelit, as potential buyers of TI Sparkle, in which they emphasize that they will be able to complete the necessary activities to submit an offer by December 18, which is two days after the jointly agreed deadline.

Purchases return for Iveco Group, in the green by 2.4 percent, after the eve's decline.

Stellantis also did well, up 1.1%, after EMEA's number one, Jean-Philippe Imparato, met and reassured Italian trade unionists.

The discussion is a prelude to Tuesday's automotive table in Rome with Enterprise Minister Adolfo Urso, which the automotive group confirmed it will attend after the farewell of ceo, Carlos Tavares, on Sunday, Dec. 1.

Leonardo ends in fractional green at EUR25.74 per share. UK, Italy and Japan on Friday launched a joint venture to develop a next-generation supersonic fighter aircraft by 2035 to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon. Britain's BAE Systems, Italy's Leonardo and JAIEC will each hold a 33.3 percent stake in the new venture.

Among the bearish, UniCredit retraces after recent rises, dropping 0.8%.

Profit taking for Brunello Cucinelli - down 1.9% - after two bullish sessions.

On the Mid-Cap, Technoprobe closes in the green by 2.4% at EUR6.13 per share, in its fourth bullish session in a row.

Bene MFE, which sees A shares up 1.7 percent and B shares up 3.0 percent after securing a EUR3.4 billion financing arranged by UniCredit with the backing of five banks-Intesa Sanpaolo, Banco BPM, BPER Banca, BNP Paribas, and Deutsche Bank-as outlined by Il Messaggero on Friday.

The deal is designed for possible use during 2025, although an extraordinary board meeting could be convened quickly.

The resources will likely be used for a takeover bid for ProSiebenSat.1, in which MFE holds 30.8 percent of the voting rights. However, Pier Silvio Berlusconi does not rule out a broader international development, with the goal of creating an integrated European media platform.

Banca di Desio e della Brianza--green by 1.3%--reported Friday that its subsidiary Fides had completed its first securitization transaction of performing loans from personal loans.

Digital Value collapses, down 13%, with profit-taking scuttling the stock after recent copious rises.

On the Small-Cap, Zest does best of all and closes in the green by 6.0% after it announced on Friday its exit from startup Fitprime, a B2B corporate welfare platform operating in the Italian market with over 200 corporate and SME clients and more than 400,000 employees served.

Generalfinance closes in the red by 0.4 percent. Banca d'Italia has issued its clearance for the opening of a branch in Spain, the first outside Italy, with the aim of launching an internationalization project, starting with a market that is Spanish with similar dynamics to the Italian one, also from the point of view of legal protections in distressed financing.

The branch will be based in Madrid, in the Azca area - the city's financial district - and will focus on commercial development and business origination, keeping operations and risk control in Italy. The goal is to build a network in restructuring with major players in the Spanish market, following the Italian model.

On the downside Fidia falls back to the downside, after mid-session buying, and concludes down 3.0%.

Among the bearish, EPH loses 14%, in its fifth negative session, and Netweek gives up 13%, after falling 26% theoretically and suspending its opening.

Among SMEs, Laboratorio Farmaceutico Erfo closes up 21% after yesterday's deal with Farmacosmo, in the green by 0.3%.

ICOP - in the red by 0.7 percent - announced Friday the award of a EUR30 million strategic electricity infrastructure project in Germany.

Solid World Group - in the red by 3.6 percent - announced the signing of a distribution agreement with TWIN Helix , a leader in the commercialization of innovative technologies for scientific research laboratories in the biomedical field. The signed partnership, with an initial duration of one year, provides for the distribution in Italy of the Electrospider 3D bioprinter.

Selling prevails for Almawave, which, with more than 150,000 shares traded, closes 0.4 percent in the red.

In New York, the Dow is fractionally in the red, the Nasdaq is down 0.3 percent, and the S&P 500 is giving up 0.2 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0497 from USD1.0506 on Thursday in closing European equities. The pound is worth USD1.2622 versus USD1.2711 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD71.11 a barrel from USD72.76 a barrel at Thursday's close. Gold trades at USD2,681.84 an ounce from USD2,681.87 an ounce last night.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar opens at 0130 CET, from Japan, with the manufacturing purchasing managers' index and the services PMI index. At 0300 CET, from China, data on industrial production, retail sales and the unemployment rate are expected.

Returning to the Eurozone, at 0915 CET, focus on the French S&P Global composite PMI index, followed by a speech by ECB President Lagarde; at 0930 CET, from Germany, the composite PMI index, the manufacturing purchasing managers' index and the German services index will be published; immediately afterwards, at 0935 CET, ECB President Lagarde will give another speech.

At 1000 CET, for the Eurozone, the manufacturing PMI index and composite services index will be released, accompanied by data on the French manufacturing PMI; at 1030 CET, the focus shifts to UK with the composite PMI index, manufacturing purchasing managers' index and services index.

At 1100 CET, from Italy, focus on the consumer price index.

It closes in the afternoon at 1545 CET, from the US, with the S&P Global PMI composite index and the tertiary sector purchasing managers' index.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, OVS results are expected.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News senior reporter

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