European indexes in the red; up Leonardo, down Iveco

(Alliance News) - On Friday, major European indexes close in negative territory driven down by the New York bourses, with Piazza Affari leaving mid-day gains on the parterre and falling back below 35,100.

IG analyst Axel Rudolph says, "U.S. stock markets are falling sharply as higher-than-expected job growth has the market pricing in only a Fed rate cut."

"The drop in U.S. consumer confidence further fueled selling, also driving European stock indexes into negative territory for the day."

The FTSE Mib closed Friday in the red by 0.6 percent to 34,090.23, the Mid-Cap falls 1.1 percent to 47,235.86, the Small-Cap ends down 0.7 percent to 28,344.69, and Italy Growth gives up 0.1 percent to 7,983.72.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed 0.9 percent in the red, Paris' CAC 40 lost 0.8 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 gave up 0.5 percent.

On the macroeconomic front, in the U.S., private sector wages grew by 0.3 percent in December, in line with market forecasts.

During the same period, also in the U.S., the unemployment rate decreased slightly to 4.1 percent, down from 4.2 percent in November.

On the highest capitalization list of Piazza Affari, Leonardo confirmed its good form and did better than all, rising 1.4 percent, updating during the session its 52-week high at EUR28.00.

Rounding out the podium are Banco BPM and Banca Popolare di Sondrio, each in the green by 0.7 percent.

Prysmian ends in the red by 0.8 percent. The company's dual listing in New York is imminent, as Milano Finanza writes Friday. CEO Massimo Battaini confirmed that the group is considering a dual listing in the U.S., with the decision expected on Capital Market Day in March. The CEO also pointed out that Trump's return to the White House could favor Prysmian, which generates 35 percent of revenues in the US.

Stellantis -- in the red by 1.2 percent -- could target an experienced profile to lead the group after Carlos Tavares' departure, as Il Corriere della Sera writes Friday. Among the candidates is Mike Manley, former CEO of Fiat Chrysler and promoter of the relaunch of Jeep.

UniCredit -- in the red by 1.3 percent -- on Friday announced plans to internalize back office operations related to securities custody in Italy and Germany, standardizing the set-up and suppliers, in a move that will create more than 200 new job opportunities.

Campari retreats 4.8 percent after eve's gains.

Iveco Group sits at the bottom of the list, retreating 7.0%, after four bullish sessions, with more than 6 million changed hands.

On the Mid-Cap, d'Amico advances 4.8%, after the 1.8% negative balance with which it closed Thursday evening.

Among the few bullish players on the list, Ferretti ends in the green by 1.4 percent, and Cembre advances 1.1 percent.

Mondadori - in the red by 0.2 percent - announced that it has finalized, through its subsidiary Mondadori Libri, the acquisition of an additional 25 percent stake in ALI - Agenzia Libraria International, a company active in book distribution.

Anima Holding - down 0.2 percent - reported Friday that December net inflows amounted to EUR111 million, bringing the 2024 total to EUR775 million.

Open-end funds posted a positive EUR310 million for the month and a negative EUR445 million for the year. Ex-Ramo I individual asset management saw a negative December of EUR199 million and a positive year of EUR1.22 billion.

Banca Generali -- down 0.4 percent -- reported Thursday that it recorded net inflows of EUR980 million in December, up 18 percent, making it "the best close of the year," the company points out. For the full year, total cumulative inflows amounted to EUR6.6 billion, up 14 percent year-on-year, exceeding the guidance of EUR6.5 billion.

Iren--down 2.5 percent--reported Friday that it had finalized the acquisition of control of Egea Holding, bringing its stake to 52.8 percent of the share capital.

On the Small-Cap, Digital Bros advances well, up 12 percent, rebounding after three bearish sessions.

Bestbe Holding ends up 9.7 percent. On Thursday, the stock was up double digits after the company announced that 84,706 new shares with the same characteristics and rights as the shares already outstanding were issued to bondholder Tenet Securities Ltd, resulting from the conversion of a total of 10 convertible bonds.

BasicNet--green by 1.3 percent--reported Thursday that the Kappa brand and football club AS Monaco have unveiled an exclusive uniform, developed in collaboration with Parisian haute couture brand KOCHÉ.

Olidata retreats 2.2 percent, after two sessions ended with bullish candles. The stock - as reported by Borsa Italiana - has been missing the ex-dividend since 2004.

EPH collapses, in the red by 30%, marking a new all-time low at EUR0.0501. The stock has lost 83 percent in the past 30 days.

Among SMEs, Haiki+ takes the top spot in the segment on its stock market debut, up more than 21% with a price of EUR0.96 per share, after its spin-off from Innovatec, which sits on the other side of the list, in the red by 16%.

Giglio.com - up 9.6 percent - announced the launch of a new line of business aimed at synergistically connecting its ecosystem of partners. Thus, it launched the Community Shopping project: a catalog of fashion apparel and accessories is made available to affiliated multi-brand stores, thanks to which, each partner will be able to serve the clientele of its physical boutique by drawing, in real time, from this digital catalog that has nearly 100,000 references per season.

Double-digit rises also for Siav, plus 21 percent, Aton Green Storage, up 16 percent, and Frendy Energy, up 12 percent-

Next Geosolutions Europe - up 1.5 percent - announced Friday the award of a contract with TenneT TSO totaling EUR27 million.

Mare Group - up 0.1 percent - on Thursday announced that it had achieved total funding of EUR23.5 million, consisting of EUR15.5 million in equity, subscribed in the recent ABB deal, and EUR8 million in new financing, resulting from contracts signed with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti for EUR5 million and with BPER Banca Spa for EUR3 million.

Growens--flat at EUR5.44 per share--on Friday reported fourth-quarter data on CPaaS business line sales and SaaS business line Annual Recurring Revenues to December 2024.

The figures, which are unaudited, show for the SaaS business line an ARR of EUR15.1 million as of December 2024, up 31 percent from the same period 2023 figure.

Sales prevail for AATech, down 8.8 percent, and EdgeLab, down 7.9 percent.

In New York, the Dow gives up 1.5 percent, the Nasdaq loses 1.9 percent while the S&P 500 is 1.6 percent in the red.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0228 against USD1.0300 on Thursday's European equities close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2195 from USD1.2306 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD75.70 per barrel from USD77.06 per barrel at Thursday's close. Gold trades at USD2,720.61 an ounce from USD2,684.59 an ounce last night.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar includes trade balance data from China.

At 1700 CET, from the US, consumer inflation expectations will be released.

The day closes at 2000 CET, also from the US, with the federal budget balance.

Of note, the Tokyo Stock Exchange will be closed for Elders' Day.

Among the companies in Piazza Affari, the results of Brunello Cucinelli, CleanBnB, LU-VE and Piquadro are expected.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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