Europeans still up; bearish oil on Mib.

(Alliance News) - The major European stock markets continue to follow a bullish trend, in mid-day Wednesday, as comforting data arrive on the performance of the service sector of the various Eurozone countries.

Thus, the FTSE Mib improves and is now up 1.0 percent at 24,688.32.

The FTSE 100 rises 0.6 percent to 7,595.46, Paris' CAC 40 is up over 1.5 percent to 6,721.48, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is in the green by 1.2 percent to 14,357.83.

Eurozone services, then, reported activity declined slightly in December and improved markedly from previous months, as released by S&P Global on Wednesday.

The eurozone services PMI rose to 49.8 in December from 48.5 in November and up from the preliminary estimate of 49.1, remaining below but approaching the 50.0-point mark that separates contraction from expansion in activity.

In Germany, the services sector posted a less pronounced month-on-month decline in activity in December, with the services PMI rising to 49.2 points December, revised upward from the preliminary figure of 49 points, and up from 46.1 points in November.

The figure still indicated a decline in the services sector but the weakest since July, a further sign that the recession in the Eurozone's largest economy is easing.

In Italy, the sector nearly stabilized in December, with the services PMI rising to 49.9-near the no-change value of 50.0-from 49.5 in November.

Among Italy's smaller lists, the Mid-Cap picks up 0.9 percent to 40,615.04, the Small-Cap rises 0.3 percent to 28,279.06, and Italy Growth is up 0.1 percent to 9,375.96.

On the mostly bullish main list of Piazza Affari, banking stocks continue to do well, with Banco BPM up 4.6 percent, UniCredit up 2.5 percent and BPER Banca up 2.0 percent.

Also among the best stocks are Telecom Italia, which picks up 3.6 percent, Enel and Hera, which are in the green 3.0 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively.

In the red, however, oils, with Tenaris the tail-end and down 6.4%. Eni gives up 0.9% and Saipem leaves 2.5% on the parterre.

Leonardo, CNH Industrial and Prysmian also hurt, giving up 2.6 percent, 0.5 percent and 1.0 percent respectively.

Also on the Mid-Cap, the color green continues to prevail, with Juventus FC again confirmed in the high quarters and, after opening at the top, now hovering around 2.2%.

Leading the list, however,is Datalogic, up 6.0 percent.

Webuild picks up 1.6 percent after the 0.6 percent red on eve. On Monday, it announced that it purchased in the week of Dec. 28-30, 2022 inclusive, 40,500 shares of its own common stock.

The shares were taken over at an average price of EUR1.3837 per share for a total value of EUR56,040.74.

Anima Holding picks up 1.1 percent. The company announced Friday that it is continuing its partnership with the Crédit Agricole Italia group, adapting as necessary the previous agreement linking Anima and Credito Valtellinese.

The revision, as Anima explained in a note, became appropriate following the merger of Credito Valtellinese into Crédit Agricole Italia, effective April 24, 2022.

The agreement maintained the original term to the end of 2027. CAI and Anima intend to preserve the industrial value of the partnership, related to the stability of assets under management.

Zignago Vetro - up 1.4 percent - announced Tuesday that it has lost its Small and Medium Enterprise status as the transitional regime that changed the definition of SME, eliminating the reference to the turnover parameter, has come to an end.

On the Small-Cap, Trevi Finanziaria Industriale gives up 0.2 percent after closing down 0.8 percent. The company announced Monday that the period for the exercise of option rights relating to the offer to shareholders of up to 79.1 million ordinary shares for a maximum total amount of EUR25.1 million has ended.

During the offer period as a result of the exercise of 110.6 million option rights, 58.0 million shares were subscribed in the offer for a total consideration of EUR18.4 million.

At the top is Somec, up 4.1 percent.

Also doing well is BasicNet, in the green by 2.5 percent. The company reported Friday that it bought back 16,500 of its own ordinary shares between December 27 and 30.

The shares were taken over at an average price per unit of EUR5.4810, for a total value of EUR90,440.50.

To date, the company holds 3.9 million treasury shares, or 7.2 percent of its share capital.

Civitanavi Systems is on a parity basis. The company announced that it has signed a ruling agreement with the Internal Revenue Service that will allow the company to have access to the tax benefit provided by the Patent Box for intellectual property for patents and know-how.

The tax benefit for the five-year period 2017-2021 will be accounted for in the 2022 financial statements, and quantification will take place when the financial statements are prepared.

Among SMEs, Imvest, after a theoretical rise of 15 percent at the opening, stands at 2.6 percent. Also doing well are Casasold, up 3.6 percent, and Telesia, which picks up 4.3 percent.

Circle remains up 0.5 percent. It announced Monday that it has signed a new contract through the Log@Sea business network to supply advanced Gate Automation solutions to a leading Tyrrhenian multipurpose terminal.

"The order, the value of which exceeds EUR145,000, involves the implementation of a complete project of specialized hardware components and Milos software for the management of gate access control procedures for vehicles and Intermodal Transport Units. The topical moment and market confidence in the solutions behind our Connect 4 Agile Growth plan are confirmed," explained President and CEO, Luca Abatello.

Erfo Pharmaceutical Laboratory reverses course and after a 0.6 percent rise gives up 2.8 percent. The company reported Monday that Active Capital Investment, linked to the chairman of the board of directors, bought 16,000 shares of common stock.

The shares were taken over at an average price per unit of EUR1.871, for a total value of EUR29,936.00.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.5 percent to 25,716.86, the Hang Seng closed up 3.2 percent to 20,793.11 and the Shanghai Composite finished in the green by 0.2 percent to 3,123.37.

In New York on European night, the Dow closed fractionally in the red at 33,136.37, the Nasdaq gave up 0.8 percent to 10,386.98 and the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent to 3,824.14.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0618 versus USD1.0545 at Tuesday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2073 from USD1.1964 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD80.20 a barrel from USD82.73 a barrel last night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,857.99 an ounce from USD1,836.55 an ounce Tuesday night.

On Wednesday afternoon's economic calendar, overseas, at 1300 CET, data on 30-year mortgages and mortgage applications will arrive from the US.

In the afternoon, at 1600 CET, it will be the turn of the ISM manufacturing employment index, sector prices, the manufacturing purchasing managers' data, and new jobs JOLTs for November.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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