(Alliance News) - European stock markets -- in contrast to futures before the open -- opened in the green Thursday. However, investors remain focused on the political chaos in France after the collapse of Prime Minister Barnier's government. His ousting via a vote of no confidence forces him to resign, while the budget that caused his downfall is now outdated and to be rewritten, increasing political uncertainty.

On the domestic front, according to the latest report from S&P Global and Hamburg Commercial Bank released Thursday and covering November, Italian construction activity continues to decline at a moderate rate, with demand for building work still struggling. Companies reported a faster slump in November than new construction orders received, which can be linked to higher levels of uncertainty.

In detail, the index for the construction sector rose from 48.2 in October and reached 48.5 in November, thus registering a contraction for the eighth month in a row.

In Milan, the volume marks 108 million pieces traded, worth about EUR330 million and a put/call ratio of 2.09.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is marking a green of 0.8 percent at 34,364.13 points.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is advancing 0.2 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is up 0.5 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is advancing with 0.3 percent.

Among the smaller listings, the Mid-Cap is up 0.4% to 47,688.10, the Small-Cap has advanced 0.4% to 27,943, and Italy Growth is down fractionally to 7,721.41.

On the Mib, Telecom Italia advanced well, rising 2.5 percent to EUR0.2325 in its third bullish session.

Stellantis, meanwhile, marks a 1.7 percent rise to EUR12.29 on its third bullish session.

UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel called the offer for Banco BPM "fair," which involves an exchange of 0.175 UniCredit shares for each Banco BPM share, which corresponds to a price of EUR6.657 per share, a 15-20% premium to stock market prices unaffected by events, such as the takeover bid on Anima and consolidation rumors, the Corriere della Sera newspaper further reports. The stock is advancing 1.3 percent.

BPER Banca -- in the green by 0.7 percent -- announced Wednesday that it has received from the European Central Bank the prudential requirements to be met as of January 1, 2025. The ECB ruled that BPER will have to maintain on a consolidated basis a minimum capital ratio in terms ofCommon Equity Tier 1 ratio of 8.93 percent - consisting of the sum of the minimum regulatory Pillar 1 requirement of 4.5 percent, the additional Pillar 2 requirement of 1.27 percent and the Combined Buffer Requirement of 3.16 percent -, while the minimum Total Equity requirement will have to be 13.41 percent.

Eni - in the red by 0.5 percent - announced on Wednesday that it had purchased 4.6 million of its own shares at a weighted average price of EUR13.5273 for a total value of EUR62.5 million in the period between November 25 and 29.

On the Mid-Cap, Ferretti is giving up 1.6 percent, after two sessions in the green.

GVS, on the other hand, is marking minus 0.9 percent, veering downward after two bearish sessions.

Newlat Food - in the red by 0.5 percent - reported Wednesday that it bought 43,640 shares between Nov. 4 and Nov. 29 for a total value of about EUR505,000.

Banca Generali - in the green by 0.7 percent - announced Thursday that, following receipt of authorization from the Bank of Italy, it intends to exercise its option to repay the outstanding EUR50 million Additional Tier 1 bond in full early on the first available repayment date.

Strength on Digital Value, which is advancing 7.6 percent to EUR21.85 per share, in its third bullish session.

On the Small-Cap, good buying on Caleffi, which is up 3.8 percent to EUR0.7660 per share. The stock - which has been missing the ex-dividend since 2017 - trades for its third bullish session in a row.

Giglio Group is also doing well, advancing 3.5 percent with new price at EUR0.4190, following eve's red with 2.2 percent.

Beghelli, on the other hand, is giving up 3.0%, with new price in the EUR0.2250 area. The stock, on the MarketScreener platform, is priced by a single analyst with a target of EUR0.38, showing that it is under-priced by about 63%.

Among SMEs, G Rent advances more than 10% to EUR0.4060, heading for its fifth bullish session.

Circle - in the green by 1.0 percent - on Wednesday announced the creation of eXyond company, following the corporate transformation, name and business name change of Log@Sea, founded in 2014 as a Network of Enterprises and 51 percent controlled by Circle S.p.A., the remaining 49 percent by Aitek.

Rocket Sharing Company - flat at EUR0.38 - on Wednesday announced the successful conclusion of the ABB - Accelerated Bookbuild - with the subscription of 300,000 newly issued ordinary shares with no indication of par value and having the same characteristics as the outstanding shares, resulting from the capital increase.

Maps - in the green by 2.1 percent - on Wednesday announced that it has been awarded a new contract worth a total of about EUR530,000 to supply the Desium consortium with an integrated software and hardware system for the management of Legality Protocols, Job Documentation and Access and Attendance Recording.

Instead, Lemon Sistemi is advancing 9.9 percent, in its third bullish session and with price in the EUR2.22 area.

In New York on the European evening, the Dow closed in the green by 0.7 percent, the Nasdaq rose 1.3 percent and the S&P 500 advanced 0.6 percent.

In Asia, the Nikkei advanced 0.3 percent, the Shanghai Composite closed in the green by 0.1 percent, and the Hang Seng is giving up 0.9 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0537 from USD1.0529 in Wednesday's European stock close. The pound is worth USD1.2728 versus USD1.2703 on Wednesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD72.39 per barrel from USD73.31 at last night's close. Gold trades at USD2,647.84 an ounce from USD2,679.04 an ounce last night.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar features the OPEC+ summit at 1100 CET, and the Eurozone retail sales report is due at the same time.

In the afternoon, from the US, at 1430 CET continuing unemployment claims will be released, and at the same time the trade balance figure will be released.

It closes, also from the US, at 2230 CET with the Fed's balance sheet.

No particular announcements are expected among companies listed in Piazza Affari.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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