(Alliance News) - On Thursday, major European indices continued to trade in positive territory as market participants weighed the likelihood of an extension to the US-Iran truce, while considering the potential for a broader agreement to end the conflict and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Consequently, the FTSE Mib rose 0.3% to 48,303.42, the Mid-Cap gained 0.8% to 57,880.39, the Small-Cap increased 0.7% to 34,771.65, while Italy Growth picked up 0.5% to 8,760.67.
London's FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%, the DAX 40 recorded a 0.2% increase, while the CAC 40 in Paris climbed 0.4%.
Regarding macroeconomic news, Istat confirmed preliminary estimates for Italian inflation in March, noting a year-on-year acceleration and a slowdown compared to February.
Annual inflation stood at 1.7% in March, up from 1.5% in February. On a monthly basis, the general index rose 0.5% in March, decelerating from 0.7% in February.
The Eurozone's annual inflation rate was revised upward to 2.6% in March, the highest level since July 2024, up from the preliminary estimate of 2.5% and accelerating from 1.9% in February.
In commodities, Brent crude surpassed USD96, while WTI rose above USD92 following pressure earlier in the week. In Europe, natural gas futures stabilized around EUR41 per MMBtu, though they remain near their lowest level in six weeks.
Back in Milan, on the blue-chip index, Mediobanca took the lead, up 3.9%. Banco BPM also performed well, rising 3.4%, while Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena rounded out the top three, gaining 3.1%.
On Wednesday afternoon, Luigi Lovaglio was voted to remain at the helm of Montepaschi after securing a majority at the shareholders' meeting for the renewal of the board of directors.
Support from Banco BPM and Delfin proved decisive, jointly influencing the outcome of the vote. The market largely rewarded the outgoing board's list, in line with recommendations from proxy advisors.
Ferrari also fared well, up 1.1%. The company announced on Wednesday that the Shareholders' Meeting re-elected all directors nominated for election, reconfirming John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna as executive directors.
Furthermore, shareholders approved the proposal to distribute a dividend of EUR3.615 per share, an increase of approximately 21% over the previous year, for a total distribution of around EUR640 million.
Fincantieri rose 1.2%. The company announced on Thursday that it has signed an agreement with Princess Cruises for the construction of three new Voyager-class cruise ships powered by liquefied natural gas.
The units will be built at Fincantieri's Monfalcone shipyard, with deliveries scheduled for 2035, 2038, and 2039 respectively.
Among the decliners were DiaSorin, Eni, and A2A, falling 1.4%, 1.2%, and 1.0% respectively.
On the Mid-Cap, WIIT rose 3.6% after announcing on Thursday a five-year renewal of a Secure Private Cloud service contract with a total value exceeding EUR2.6 million with a "major client active in the retail sector."
The new contract involves the management and hosting of the client's mission-critical application systems on WIIT's Private Cloud infrastructure, supporting key corporate application platforms, including SAP, according to the company's note.
MFE-MediaForEurope released its results for the year ended December 31, 2025, on Wednesday. The company reported a doubling of profit to EUR301 million compared to EUR137.9 million recorded on December 31, 2024.
The board of directors will propose a dividend of EUR0.22 per Class A and Class B ordinary share to the shareholders' meeting. This payout is lower than the EUR0.27 distributed the previous year. The company explained that the 2025 dividend represents a total amount of EUR154 million, the highest in fifteen years.
Revenue stood at EUR4.03 billion, up from EUR2.95 billion the previous year. Class A shares are trading up 7.5%, while Class B shares are up 7.4%.
Piaggio & C. - up 1.0% - announced on Wednesday that its board of directors has approved a new share buyback plan. The program involves 27 million ordinary shares of the company for a maximum value set at EUR41.5 million.
The Arnoldo Mondadori Editore group is flat at EUR2.085 per share. The company announced that, following the submission of the offer and discussions with the liquidator, the contract for the acquisition of Hoepli's school publishing business unit has been signed.
The transaction is expected to be finalized within the first half of the current financial year, subject to the fulfillment of specific conditions precedent.
On the Small-Cap, SIT - down 1.8% - reported a net profit of EUR1.3 million, an improvement over the EUR31.6 million loss recorded in 2024. Consolidated revenue reached EUR319.1 million, up 6.5% compared to the previous year and 7.8% at constant exchange rates.
Triboo announced on Wednesday that it closed 2025 with a loss of EUR2.3 million, an improvement over the negative result of EUR11.2 million in 2024. The stock rose 3.4%.
Bastogi is flat at EUR1.22 per share. The company announced that the board of directors approved the results for the year ended December 31, 2025, reporting a profit of EUR17.8 million, up from EUR6.9 million recorded on December 31, 2024. Total revenue was EUR63.9 million, up from EUR62.3 million in the previous twelve months.
On Italy Growth, SG Co closed the first quarter with consolidated turnover of EUR20.9 million, up from EUR14.1 million as of March 31, 2025. The contracted order backlog stands at EUR9.6 million, up from EUR4.8 million in the first quarter of 2025. The stock rose 1.9%.
Eles announced on Thursday that, regarding the voluntary tender offer launched by EBidCo Srl to acquire all of its shares, 328,532 residual shares were tendered during the sell-out period, representing approximately 29% of the total residual shares for a value of EUR1.1 million.
Borsa Italiana will suspend Eles ordinary shares from trading on Euronext Growth Milan on April 22 and April 23, 2026, with delisting effective from April 24, 2026.
Svas Biosana - down 0.4% - announced its 2025 results on Wednesday, closing the year with a profit of EUR6.8 million, a 15% increase compared to EUR5.9 million recorded on December 31, 2024.
The board will propose a dividend distribution of EUR0.20 per share to shareholders, down from EUR0.25 last year.
In New York, the Dow Jones closed down 0.2% at 48,463.72 points, the Nasdaq rose 1.4% to 26,204.58, while the S&P 500 gained 0.8% to 7,022.95 points.
In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 2.4% at 59,518.34 points, the Shanghai Composite picked up 0.7% to 4,055.55, and the Hang Seng rose 1.7% to 26,394.26 points.
On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1785 from USD1.1806 on Wednesday evening, while the pound is trading at USD1.3550 from USD1.3578 yesterday evening.
Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD96.34 per barrel from USD95.46 per barrel yesterday evening, while gold is worth USD4,838.91 per ounce from USD4,797.41 per ounce yesterday evening.
Thursday's macroeconomic calendar includes US Jobless Claims at 1430 CEST, followed by US industrial production at 1515 CEST. Finally, at 2230 CEST, the Federal Reserve's weekly balance sheet will be released.
By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter
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