(Alliance News) - European stock markets are set to open slightly higher on Friday, buoyed by stabilizing global sentiment after the US House of Representatives narrowly approved President Donald Trump's tax and spending bill, easing short-term uncertainty for investors.
However, the package, which includes tax cuts and increased defense spending, has reignited fears that it could further increase the already large US public debt, keeping investors cautious.
Thus, the FTSE Mib - after closing down 0.7% at 40,256.59 yesterday evening - is now up 22.50 points.
Among the smaller indices, the Mid-Cap lost 0.3% to 54,222.90 yesterday evening, the Small-Cap fell 0.5% to 31,310.01, while the Italy Growth advanced 0.1% to 7,931.25.
The FTSE 100 in London is up 10.50 points, the DAX 40 in Frankfurt is down 13.00 points, while the CAC 40 in Paris is just above par.
Returning to Milan, yesterday evening on the MIB, BPER Banca outperformed all others, ending the day up 2.6% with over 20 million shares traded.
Assicurazioni Generali announced on Thursday that its board had approved the financial report for March 31, closing with a net result of EUR1.19 billion, up from EUR1.25 billion in the first quarter of 2024.
"The comparison with the previous year reflects the strong non-operating result of investments recorded in the first quarter, which also included a non-recurring profit of EUR 58 million net of taxes from the sale of TUA Assicurazioni," the company said in a statement.
Banco BPM - down 0.1% - expressed strong concern about Consob's decision to suspend the public exchange offer launched by UniCredit, considering it an anomalous act from an institutional point of view and inconsistent with the Authority's practice, highlighting critical issues in the request made by the Piazza Gae Aulenti institution.
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena completed the placement of a new Senior Preferred Unsecured bond issue, with a fixed rate, a 6-year maturity and an early redemption option after 5 years, for a total amount of EUR500 million.
MPS closed up 0.5%.
Prysmian, down 1.4%, announced that John Andrews will be the new Chief HR & Organization Officer of Prysmian as of July 1. The company also announced that CEO Massimo Battaini has purchased a block of 35,000 nominal units of the company's bond issue for a total value of approximately EUR 3.5 million.
Terna - up 0.7% - announced that in April, electricity demand in Italy stood at 23.4 billion kWh, down 1.1% compared to April 2024.
UniCredit - down 1.0% - received authorization from the Single Resolution Board and will therefore proceed to exercise the option to redeem the "EUR1.25 billion Fixed to Floating Rate Callable Senior Notes due June 16, 2026" securities in advance on June 16.
Among other decliners, Moncler fell 3.9% to EUR54.80. Bernstein raised its target price to EUR60.00 from EUR55.00 with a 'market-perform' rating.
Stellantis was at the bottom of the main index, down 3.9%, following Wednesday's decline.
On the Mid-Cap index, MAIRE performed well, closing up 4.2% at EUR10.88, with around 1.3 million shares traded. Jefferies raised its target price for the stock to EUR12.00 from EUR11.00 with a 'buy' recommendation.
Fincantieri, up 4.0% to EUR15.05, announced that, together with the Saudi Red Sea Authority, it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Riyadh aimed at exploring opportunities for collaboration in the development and management of maritime and coastal activities in the region. During the session, the stock updated its all-time high to EUR15.20 per share.
Iren - up 0.2% - completed the acquisition of the remaining 47.23% of Egea Holding from MidCo 2024, bringing its stake to 100% of the company's share capital. The minimum price of the transaction was set at EUR74.8 million.
Rai Way - down 0.5% - completed the construction of a new 120-meter-high transmission tower at the Monte Caccia site, located in the municipality of Spinazzola, in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani.
At the bottom of the secondary market, Cementir Holding ended down 3.4%.
On the Small-Cap index, among the stocks with the highest trading value, doValue fell 1.9%, after closing the last two sessions in positive territory, while Avio rose 1.8%.
Among the losers at the bottom of the list, EuroGroup Laminations fell 4.9%.
Among SMEs, Estrima saw double-digit gains, up 13%, and Cyberoo closed up 12%.
AATech - down 2.1% - announced that its board of directors has resolved to increase the share capital against payment and in a single tranche for a maximum amount of EUR 1.7 million, plus share premium, through the issue of a maximum of 3.4 million new ordinary shares.
Mare Engineering Group - up 1.7% - announced that it had acquired a new significant order in the Aerospace & Defense sector, reaching EUR 12 million since the beginning of the year.
FOS recorded the highest trading value, ending up 1.8%.
In New York, the Dow closed slightly below par last night, as did the S&P 500, while the Nasdaq ended the session up 0.3%.
Among Asian markets, the Hang Seng is up 0.3%, the Shanghai Composite is down 0.5%, while the Nikkei is down 0.5%.
Among currencies, the euro is trading at USD 1.1322 from USD 1.1284 on Thursday evening, while the pound is trading at USD 1.3425 from USD 1.3441 yesterday evening.
Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD 64.02 per barrel from USD 65.07 per barrel yesterday evening, while gold is trading at USD 3,328.07 from USD 3,290.54 per ounce yesterday evening.
Friday's macroeconomic calendar includes a speech by Philip Lane, member of the European Central Bank's Executive Board, at 10:30 a.m. CEST.
In the afternoon, at 2:30 p.m. CEST, data on building permits and construction permits issued are expected from the US, followed at 4:00 p.m. CEST by new home sales.
At 6:00 p.m. CEST, speeches by Fed Chair Cook and ECB member Schnabel are scheduled.
At the end of the day, at 7:00 p.m. CEST, Baker Hughes is expected to release its weekly update on active drilling rigs in the US.
Among companies listed on the Italian stock exchange, Finance For Food, Neosperience, Officina Stellare, TraWell Co, and TrenDevice are expected to report their results.
By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter
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