(Alliance News) - On Monday, Italy's major European indexes are expected to rise on IG futures as all eyes are on the Federal Reserve, which is expected to cut interest rates for the first time since 2020, with the likelihood of a significant cut of 50 basis points.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is expected to rise 0.5 percent or 172.5 points after closing in fractional green at 33,569.98.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is expected in the green by 0.6 percent or 51.2 points, Paris' CAC 40 is given up 0.7 percent or 50.7 points and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected up 0.4 percent or 78.0 points.

"Either the Fed doves are getting ahead of themselves, or there will be a big disappointment when the bank announces its policy decision tomorrow," comments Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank. "Or ... the Fed will fall in line with the market and give investors what they want, to avoid creating further panic. The expectation of a 50 bp cut is now rated at almost a 70 percent chance. The U.S. 2-year yield fell further yesterday below the 3.53 percent level, the 10-year yield is hovering around 3.62 percent this morning, and the U.S. dollar index remains under a fair amount of selling pressure, intimidated by growing bets on a 50 bp cut by the Fed tomorrow."

"The reality," the analyst continues, "is that no one knows what the Fed will do at this time. I am still convinced that a 25 bp cut would be the best option given the non-alarming economic data at the moment. It is better to start slowly and accelerate if necessary. But I am also increasingly confused and think that the disappointment would be so great that the Fed might-perhaps-not dare to give the market a cut of only 25 bp. And we are also beginning to hear that some Democrats are putting gasoline on the fire by calling for a 75 bp cut. So it is in this climate of great confusion that the Fed will begin its two-day meeting today."

Among Italy's smaller lists on Monday, the Mid-Cap closed 0.3 percent in the red at 45,937.63, the Small-Cap gave up 0.5 percent to 28,225.36, and Italy Growth closed 0.5 percent in the green at 7,926.22.

On the Mib, Unipol closed up 6.4 percent, after falling 0.3 percent on Friday evening and with new price at EUR10.11 per share.

Strength on Saipem, up 4.9%. The company announced Friday that it has been awarded an offshore EPC contract from QatarEnergy LNG - worth USD4 billion - for the combined Comp3A & Comp3B packages of the North Field Production Sustainability Offshore Compression Program project, aimed at supporting the production of the North Field offshore natural gas field, located off the northeastern coast of Qatar.

UniCredit also goes up, up 0.5 percent, after announcing the definition of the implementation modalities for the execution of the buy-back program as an advance on expected distributions on the 2024 financial year for EUR1.70 billion and, in any case, for a number of shares not exceeding 112.9 million, or about 7 percent of the bank's share capital.

Generali also rises, up 3.2 percent to EUR25.98. Worth mentioning, Jefferies upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' and raised the target price to EUR28.50 from EUR22.00.

Among the bearish, sits on the bottom STMicroelectronics, down 3.4 percent to EUR24.89 after hitting a new 52-week low during the session at EUR24.76 per share.

Sales, among many, also for Ferrari, which left 2.0 percent at EUR416.80 per share on the sidelines after a 0.1 percent decline last session.

On the Mid-Cap, d'Amico rallied 2.0%, in its fourth session with a bullish candle. The company announced Monday that it had purchased treasury shares for a total consideration of EUR462,000 between Sept. 9 and Sept. 13.

Banca Generali gave up 0.1 percent after announcing that it has decided to launch a voluntary tender offer aimed at acquiring all of the outstanding ordinary shares of Intermonte Partners SIM -- up more than 20 percent among midcaps. In addition, it is Banca Generali's intention to have the shares delisted from trading on Euronext Growth Milan. The company will pay a consideration of EUR3.04 for each share brought into the offer.

Sesa, on the other hand, closed down 2.0 percent, the subject of profit-taking after two sessions of rises. The comopany reported Thursday that it closed the first quarter to July 31 with a group profit of EUR21.2 million from EUR22.0 million in the first quarter of 2023. In contrast, adjusted net income attributable to the group was EUR26.6 million, up 0.5 percent from EUR26.5 million as of July 31, 2023.

Among smallcaps, Bastogi rallied 3.4 percent, after falling 0.3 percent on Friday evening and with price at EUR0.39 per share.

Esprinet rallied 2.4 percent, racking up its fourth session in a row in an uptrend.

Eurotech gave up 1.1 percent after it reported Friday that it closed the first half of the year with a loss of EUR5.5 million from a loss of EUR940,000 in the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the first six months fell to EUR29.3 million from EUR47.9 million in the first half of 2023.

CY4Gate gave up 2.4 percent, after announcing that it recently signed a 1-year contract totaling EUR700,000 for the evolution of an already acquired solution in Decision Intelligence for a leading institutional client in Europe.

Mondo TV - down 4.4 percent - reported that it closed the first half of the year with a profit attributable to the group of EUR60,000 from a loss of EUR1.2 million as of June 30, 2023. Operating income for the period was EUR290,000 from a loss of EUR260,000. Revenues as of June 30 were about EUR3.9 million from EUR3.7 million in the first half of 2023.

doValue -- down 4.8 percent -- on Friday announced that its subsidiary doValue Greece Real Estate Services, which specializes in real estate asset management, has signed a contract with a major Greek bank to manage about 2,000 real estate assets with a net book value of about EUR200 million.

Among SMEs, Eprcommunication -- down 2.9 percent -- on Monday reported that it had received notice regarding the outcome of a market consultation promoted by a major nonprofit active in job training and guidance. As a result of this consultation and the proposals submitted, Eprcomunicazione was chosen to implement a one-year communication plan with a total expected amount of EUR110,000 net of VAT. In addition, the subsidiary Justbit received a direct assignment for communication activities from a territorial public body worth EUR65,000, with an expiration date of December 31, 2024.

Caribbean Company left 5.5 percent on the parterre, with price at EUR0.86 after Friday night's 2.0 percent gain.

In Asia, the Nikkei gives up 1.3% to 36,121.66, the Hang Seng advances 1.2% to 17,625.72 and the Shanghai Composite is down 0.5% to 2,704.09.

In New York, the Dow closed in the green 0.6 percent to 41,622.08, the Nasdaq gave up 0.5 percent to 17,592.13 while the S&P 500 finished up 0.1 percent to 5,633.09.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.1129 versus USD1.1121 in Monday's European equities close while the pound was worth USD1.3213 from USD1.3198 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude trades at USD73.13 per barrel versus USD72.52 per barrel at Monday's European stock close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,579.90 an ounce from USD2,581.10 an ounce on Monday evening.

On Tuesday's economic calendar, at 1100 CEST, the ZEW index for Germany and the Eurozone is scheduled to be released.

From the US, at 1430 CEST coming up is the retail sales data, while at 1515 CEST it will be the turn of industrial production and at 1900 CEST a 20-year Treasury bond auction is scheduled.

Finally, at 2230 CEST, the weekly oil stocks report will be released.

On the corporate calendar, Websolute results are coming up.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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