(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari trades in a bearish trend for the second day in a row on Friday, with the Mib settling back above 27,100, echoing other European exchanges in the wake of turmoil in the U.S. banking sector.

Investor sentiment around the world was shaken overnight, driven by a sell-off in U.S. bank stocks. The four largest U.S. banks saw their share prices lose a total of USD52 billion Thursday as the financial sector weighed in on problems at SVB Financial, a major Silicon Valley-focused lender.

On Thursday, SVB Financial's shares tumbled 60 percent and continued to fall in after-hours trading after the announcement the night before that it had lost USD1.8 billion in stock sales to raise funds.

The largest U.S. bank JPMorgan Chase, which closed the day down 5.4 percent. Bank of America and Wells Fargo both lost 6.2 percent, while Citigroup lost 4.1 percent.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is thus down 2.0 percent to 27,168.43 and low at 26,981.79.

Paris' CAC 40 is down 1.4 percent, London's FTSE 100 is giving up 1.9 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is in the red by 1.5 percent.

Among the smaller listings, the Mid-Cap is down 1.6 percent to 43,712.89, the Small-Cap is giving up 1.3 percent to 30,152.23, and Italy Growth is in the red 0.6 percent to 9,423.13.

On the Mib, there was no shortage of U.S. banking. Among the many, UniCredit is giving up 3.3 percent, FinecoBank 4.4 percent as well as BPER Bank 3.6 percent.

Also at the tail end is Azimut, which gives up 3.8 percent. The company reported Thursday that it had kept its dividend unchanged at EUR1.30 per share--with a dividend yield of 5.8%--despite declines in revenues and earnings in 2022. Consolidated revenues fell to EUR1.29 billion in 2022 from EUR1.45 billion in 2021, with the fourth quarter alone seeing a decline to EUR318 million from EUR583 million in the same period a year earlier.

The board of Leonardo -- in the green by 3.4 percent -- approved its 2022 results on Thursday, reporting a net profit of EUR932.0 million up 59 percent from EUR687.0 million in 2021. The board also let it be known that it will propose a dividend in line with the previous year of EUR0.14 per share.

The buy side also prevails on Terna and Italgas, which advance 0.6 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

On the cadet segment, good cue for Danieli & C, among the few bullish performers on the list, which marks a green of 1.4 percent.

Also active for Italmobiliare, which advances 0.4% to EUR25.20 per share.

Alerion, on the other hand, gives up 2.5 percent after eve's green with 2.9 percent thanks to good numbers for 2022. Net income was EUR71 million, up from EUR48.7 million in 2021. The board proposed a dividend of EUR0.65 per share compared to EUR0.44 in 2021.

Banca Monte dei Paschi contracts 4.7 percent to EUR at EUR2.21 per share, trailing the eve's red by 1.8 percent.

Safilo, meanwhile, gives up 2.3 percent, bringing its price to EUR1.35 per share. The company announced Thursday that it had approved its draft financial statements as of December 31, 2022, reporting a major improvement in all key economic indicators and adjusted group net income of EUR58.3 million compared to EUR27.4 million in the same period last year.

On the Small-Cap, the board of Digital Bros -- in the red by 3.9 percent -- on Thursday approved the half-year financial report as of December 31, 2022, reporting revenues up 8.1 percent to EUR59.8 million from EUR55.3 million in the same period last year. Net income for the period amounted to EUR11.0 million from EUR10.4 million in the first six months of fiscal 2021-2022.

TXT-Solutions, on the other hand, gives up 4.3 percent, after eve's gain of 2.3 percent.

Softlab advances 2.6 percent, after eve's red with 1.0 percent.

Strength also on Centrale del Latte d'Italia, which moves up 3.0%. The stock-which has been missing the ex-dividend since 2016-positions the price at EUR2.56.

Among SMEs, High Quality Food advances well, rising well by 7.0% with weekly well over 11%.

In the red, Visibilia marks an 8% red in contrast. It should be noted that the stock, on a weekly basis, marks an asset of qiasi 49%.

Farmacosmo - in the red by 3.6 percent - on Thursday evening announced that it had signed a binding agreement to acquire a 51 percent majority stake in Telepsicologia, held 51 percent by Professor Marco Pacifico and 49 percent by CEPIB Formazione & Ricerca.

In New York on European night, as anticipated, the Dow closed down 1.7 percent, the Nasdaq down 2.1 percent, and the S&P 500 contracted 1.9 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0591 versus USD1.0581 at Thursday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.1937 from USD1.1927 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD80.87 per barrel versus USD83.25 per barrel Thursday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,832.76 an ounce from USD1,827.74 an ounce at Thursday's close.

On Friday's economic calendar, in the afternoon, at 1400 CET, space will be given to the NIESR monthly indicator on UK GDP while in the US, labor data including hourly wages, nonfarm payrolls, and the unemployment rate will be released.

The unemployment rate will also come from Canada, at 1430 CET.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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