(Alliance News) - On Thursday, US employment data cheered financial markets, which, after a turbulent morning, settled back into a bullish position. The report revealed that job creation exceeded estimates - 147,000 against 110,000 - and that the unemployment rate fell from 4.2% to 4.1%.

With the possibility of a US economic slowdown ruled out, the markets took a breather, helped by the easing of tensions between China and the US over tariffs.

As a result, the FTSE Mib closed up 0.4% at 39,943.15 points, the Mid-Cap rose 0.7% to 54,285.80, the Small-Cap index rose 1.0% to 32,055.22, and the Italia Growth index ended the session slightly up at 8,230.60.

The CAC 40 in Paris rose 0.1%, the DAX 40 in Frankfurt settled 0.3% higher, and the FTSE 100 in London recorded a 0.5% increase.

"Once again, traders were advised to ignore the ADP report if they wanted to have any hope of correctly guessing the NFP figure. Yesterday's employment shock turned out to be a real red herring, as the official figure exceeded expectations." This was how Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG, commented on Thursday's trading.

"The US economy, it seems, continues to perform rather well. Employment growth has moderated, dispelling inflation fears, and overall, the data has provided a positive tone for US markets as Americans prepare to leave for the long weekend," the analyst concluded.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, Telecom Italia was among the best performers, up 2.1% to EUR0.414 per share.

STMicroelectronics closed higher, up 2.3% at EUR27.445 per share. Barclays raised its target price on the stock to EUR22.00 from EUR16.00, following upward revisions announced yesterday by UBS and Oddo BHF.

On the banking risk front, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, up 0.5%, announced that it had received authorization from the Italian Competition Authority for its public exchange offer for all Mediobanca shares.

The latter ended the day up 0.5%, also on the back of the conclusion of a buyback plan worth EUR 385 million.

There were also purchases for BPER Banca shares, up 1.0%, which on Wednesday announced, in relation to the public exchange offer on Banca Popolare di Sondrio, up 0.6%, - that the Italian Competition Authority had authorized the acquisition, subject to the sale of six branches, five belonging to BPER and one to PopSondrio, to banking operators within ten months of the date of authorization of the transaction.

UniCredit has initiated talks with the German government to facilitate the proposed merger with Commerzbank: the stock closed up 0.5% at EUR57.02 per share. Relations with the German government continue unabated.

Eni also ended the session slightly up at EUR13.9820 per share after announcing the start of work on Entrenúcleos, a new 200-megawatt photovoltaic plant located in the municipalities of Dos Hermanas and Coria del Río, in the province of Seville, Andalusia.

Utilities brought up the rear, with A2A down 1.1%, Terna down 0.4%, and Enel down 0.5%.

On the Mid-Cap, Carel Industries gained 6.4%, marking the best performance despite JPMorgan Asset Management raising its short position to 0.60% from 0.59%.

TXT e-Solutions also performed well, up 3.1% after announcing the acquisition of a minority stake in Altilia, an Italian deep-tech company active in the artificial intelligence sector.

Ariston Holding was among the top performers with a 1.9% increase to EUR4.43 per share, extending its strong performance in the first half of the year, which saw the stock rise 23%.

Technogym - down 0.4% - announced that its board of directors has approved the implementation regulations for the 2027 performance share plan, which provides for the free allocation of rights for a base number of 215,200 shares.

Lottomatica lost 0.2% to EUR22.96 after announcing the appointment of CEO Guglielmo Angelozzi as new executive chairman.

Alerion, down 1.2%, and Zignano Vetro, down 2.2%, closed the list.

Among small caps, Softlab was among the top performers for the second consecutive session, up 6.7%, confirming its healthy performance over the last month, which has seen the stock's value increase by 3.5%. Over 25,000 shares were traded on Thursday.

Mondo TV topped the list with a 17% increase. The company has requested access to negotiated settlement of the crisis, a process that seeks to anticipate the moment of crisis, impacting creditors as little as possible and implementing less invasive recovery plans for the company.

Fidia, which came in last, announced the issuance and subscription by GGHL of the first tranche of the convertible bond with warrants, approved by the extraordinary shareholders' meeting on March 31. The stock lost 8.6% to EUR0.406 per share.

Triboo, after recording the best performance on Wednesday, slipped 4.6%.

Among SMEs, Lemon Sistemi performed best, with an 11% increase to EUR2.33 per share.

Alfonsino, bolstered by a partnership with Eufarma for delivery to 70 Italian pharmacies, closed with a 2.2% increase.

Haiki+ also performed well, in line with the previous session. It recorded a positive balance of 3.5% and announced the acquisition of Ecobat Resources for EUR 22.9 million. The transaction adds approximately EUR 100 million in revenue to the nearly EUR 250 million already generated by Haiki+.

CrowdFundMe, which is not traded on the stock market, announced on Thursday that it closed the first half of the year with EUR18 million raised, up 44% compared to the second half of 2024.

eVISO fell 1.8% after announcing the sale of 9,800 ordinary shares by Pandora. The shares were sold on June 30 at an average price of EUR10.50, for a total value of EUR102,900.

In New York, the Dow rose 0.9%, the Nasdaq was up 0.9% and the S&P 500 rose 0.8%.

On the currency front, the euro traded at USD 1.1756 from USD 1.1767 at Wednesday's close, while the pound traded at USD 1.3647 from USD 1.3594 yesterday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD 68.36 per barrel, up from USD 67.56 at the previous close, while gold is worth USD 3,328.36 per ounce, down from USD 3,337.91 per ounce last night.

On Friday's economic calendar, German factory orders are due at 0800 CEST, French production data at 0845 CEST and Spanish industrial production data at 0900 CEST.

At 0930 CEST, the PMI index for the construction sector in Germany, France, Italy, and the Eurozone will be published, and at the same time, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is expected to give a speech focusing on construction in the Eurozone.

At 10:00 CEST, focus will be on car registrations in the UK and the annual analysis of retail sales in Italy. At 11:00 CEST, all eyes will be on the Eurozone producer price index.

In the US, Independence Day is being celebrated and no announcements are expected, with markets remaining closed.

On the Italian stock exchange, Landi Renzo's results are expected.

By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter

Comments and questions to redazione@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2025 Alliance News IS Italian Service Ltd. All rights reserved.