Banks weigh on Mib, luxury goods perform well; Moncler tops

(Alliance News) - On Thursday, the main European indices closed mixed, with the Italian stock market retreating from mid-session gains to settle at around 41,900 points, while the Paris stock exchange performed positively. In France, the suspension of pension reform helped to ease uncertainty, while the Socialist Party ruled out a vote of no confidence.

Gold continued its rally, hitting a new high of over USD 4,200 per ounce, supported by the search for safe-haven assets and expectations of further monetary easing in the US. The deterioration in trade relations between the US and China also contributed to the price increase.

Oil prices remain close to five-month lows due to persistent concerns about oversupply.

As a result, the FTSE Mib closed down 0.4% at 41,906.90, the Mid-Cap lost 0.6% to 56,380.34, the Small-Cap fell 0.5% to 36,797.50, while the Italy Growth fell 0.3% to 8,614.42.

The FTSE 100 in London closed down 0.3%, the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 2.0%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt lost 0.1%.

Returning to Milan, the luxury sector stood out on the Piazza Affari's highest capitalization index, with Moncler leading the gains, ending up 7.8% with almost 3 million shares traded, after a 2.3% decline in the previous session.

Brunello Cucinelli also performed well, rising 1.9% after falling 1.8% the previous day. It should be noted that AQR Capital Management increased its bearish position on the stock to 1.42% from 1.34% previously.

Stellantis also saw buying interest, rising 3.2% with 23 million shares changing hands. The automotive group will invest USD 13 billion in the US, the largest investment in the group's 100-year history in the country. This is the first major plan announced by the new CEO, Antonio Filosa, developed in response to pressure from US President Donald Trump and tariffs on Mexico and Canada. The project envisages a 50% increase in US production with five new models and 19 product initiatives within four years, creating over 5,000 new jobs at plants in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.

Positive session for Ferrari, which closed up 2.9%.

Poste Italiane ended down 2.0% at EUR20.25, after hitting a new 52-week high of EUR20.80 per share during the session.

The banking sector was weak, with MPS down 2.2%, Mediobanca down 2.7%, and BPER Banca down 3.0%.

Banco BPM, down 2.8%, announced that it had granted a EUR32 million loan to support the Building Group's investment in the purchase of the property complex at Viale Gian Galeazzo 3 in Milan, a transaction worth a total of EUR33 million.

Among other declines, Assicurazioni Generali lost 2.9%, while Leonardo fell 4.2%, marking its fifth consecutive session in negative territory.

Nexi was at the bottom of the main index, down 5.5%, penalized by cuts in analysts' estimates, including Intermonte and JP Morgan, ahead of its quarterly results.

On the Mid-Cap index, Salvatore Ferragamo stood out, rising 7.8% to EUR 5.95 per share after four consecutive sessions of decline.

Piaggio, up 0.7%, announced on Wednesday the launch of a direct presence in the Philippines, a strategic and rapidly growing market in Southeast Asia, confirming its commitment to international expansion under the leadership of Michele Colaninno.

Sesa closed down 0.1%. The company announced the conclusion of the buyback program launched on August 28, which saw the purchase of a total of 177,350 treasury shares at a weighted average price of EUR84.01433, for a total value of EUR15 million.

Fincantieri closed down 6.5%, recording its fourth consecutive negative session.

Avio was at the bottom of the mid-cap index, down 8.1%. Dws Investments reduced its stake in Avio to below 5%.

On the Small-Cap index, among the stocks with the highest trading value, Gas Plus fell 1.5%.

EEMS Italia, up 0.3%, appointed Marco Gnecchi as a new member of the board to replace Francesco La Fauci, who resigned.

Gabetti Property Solutions closed the session up 0.9% after announcing that in the first nine months of the year it recorded over EUR 7.7 billion in corporate investments in Italy, up approximately 17% compared to September 30, 2024. The company explained in a statement that the retail sector (29%) and the hospitality sector (21%) are the driving forces behind this growth.

Seri Industrial advanced 2.0%. It should be noted that WorldQuant revised its short position to 0.51% from the previous 0.49%.

Among SMEs, Officina Stellare lost 4.0%, after Tuesday's 2.4% decline.

expert.ai closed down 0.9% at EUR1.516. Alantra commented positively on the award to the company, through its subsidiary ISED, of a EUR3.6 million contract for the management of the 118 emergency response system in the Puglia region, accompanying the assessment with a "buy" recommendation and a target price of EUR2.30.

SG Company, up 1.4%, reported consolidated financial results as of September 30, with total revenues and order book of EUR 44.4 million. This represents an increase of 8.0% compared to EUR 41.1 million as of June 30, 2025, and an increase of 28% on turnover for the whole of 2024, equal to EUR 34.6 million.

Svas Biosana ended up 1.7% at EUR 8.60 per share. Banca Profilo released an analysis of the company, confirming its 'buy' recommendation and revising its 12-month target price upwards to EUR 17.10 per share from EUR 14.80.

Ubaldi Costruzioni, flat at EUR3.77, released its guidance for 2025, indicating expected production value of between EUR45 million and EUR47 million and EBITDA of between EUR8.3 million and EUR9.3 million, supported by a solid order book and an expanding commercial pipeline.

Markbass was down 17% and MIT SIM fell more than 14%.

In New York, the Dow gained 0.1%, the Nasdaq advanced 0.4%, while the S&P 500 was up 0.3%.

On the currency front, the euro traded at USD 1.1639 from USD 1.1591 at Tuesday's stock market close, while the pound traded at USD 1.3393 from USD 1.3294 at the last European close.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD62.04 per barrel from USD61.87 per barrel at Tuesday's close, while gold is worth USD4,183.142 per ounce against USD4,137.20 per ounce on Tuesday.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar opens at 0330 CEST with a speech by Tamura of the Bank of Japan, followed at 0630 CEST in Japan by the publication of the services PMI.

At 0800 CEST in the UK, several key data releases are expected: construction, gross domestic product, industrial production, manufacturing production, and trade balance.

At 1000 CEST in the eurozone, the Italian consumer price index will be released, while at 1100 CEST the Italian trade balance and Eurozone trade balance data will be released.

In the afternoon, at 1430 CEST, producer prices and retail sales will be published in the US. This will be followed at 1500 CEST by a speech by Waller, a member of the Federal Reserve.

At 6:00 p.m. CEST, crude oil inventory data and the weekly EIA report will be released in the US. At the same time, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is expected to give a speech in the eurozone.

Among the companies listed on the Italian stock exchange, Brunello Cucinelli and Saccheria F.lli Franceschetti are expected to release their financial results.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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