(Alliance News) - Major European markets closed lower on Tuesday as traders continued to focus on the Middle East. Iran authorized negotiations with the White House, while Trump stated that obtaining uranium from Iran would be a "long" and "difficult" process.
On the macroeconomic front, the ZEW economic sentiment indicator for April showed a further deterioration for both the Eurozone and Germany. In the Eurozone, the economic expectations index fell to minus 20.4 points, down 11.9 points from the previous month.
In this context, the MIB ended trading down 0.6% at 47,903.29 points, the Mid-Cap fell 0.2% to 58,386.65, the Small-Cap gained 0.2% to 35,599.28, and Italy Growth rose 0.1% to 8,771.93 points.
Other European exchanges also finished in the red: the CAC 40 dropped 1.1%, the DAX 40 fell 0.5%, and the FTSE 100 declined 1.1%.
On Piazza Affari, Banco BPM announced that its board of directors appointed Eugenio Rossetti as vice chairman and defined the composition of internal board committees, in addition to verifying the independence requirements of directors. Specifically, Rossetti also takes the chair of the nominations committee, joined by Marina Mantelli and Domenico Siniscalco. The stock traded bearishly, down 1.6%.
The Moncler shareholders' meeting, which saw the stock close up 0.6%, confirmed Bartolomeo Rongone in his role as director until the approval of the 2027 financial statements.
National electricity demand increased in March, reaching 26.5 billion kWh, up 2.8% compared to the same month in 2025, according to data released by Terna, which closed down 0.3%. Adjusted for calendar and temperature effects, the figure showed a 2% increase.
Lottomatica Group - which finished at the bottom of the basket, down 3.5% at EUR25.53 - announced its intention to issue and place senior secured notes maturing in 2032 for a total amount of EUR765 million.
The company specified that the proceeds from the transaction will be used in part for the full redemption, for approximately EUR400 million, of its floating rate senior secured notes maturing in 2031, including accrued and unpaid interest.
UniCredit announced that it will exercise its option for the full redemption of EUR1.00 billion fixed-rate notes. The early redemption of the Securities will take place on June 3, while the stock fell 1.4% to EUR67.01 per share.
Poste Italiane - down 0.7% at the end of the session - "notes with surprise the measure by which the Privacy Guarantor has imposed a fine for an alleged unlawful processing of personal data of BancoPosta and PostePay users."
Tenaris was the day's top performer with gains of 1.7% at EUR25.82, while Leonardo left 4.9% on the floor at EUR55.27 per share.
On the Mid-Cap, Alberto Galassi, the long-standing CEO of Ferretti and a key figure in the group's relaunch, is leaving the orbit of the primary shareholder Weichai (39.5%) to join the project of Czech entrepreneur Karel Komarek, who has risen to 23.2% via KKCG Maritime and is determined to reform governance. Ferretti stock remained flat at EUR4.10 per share.
Acea completed, through its subsidiary a.Quantum, the acquisition of Aquanexa from Algebris Investments. As the company noted in a statement, the economic value of the transaction in terms of Enterprise Value for 100% of Aquanexa, based on the current perimeter, is approximately EUR205 million. The stock was bearish, down 1.8%.
NewPrinces performed worst alongside Interpump. The stocks closed the session down 2.6% at EUR17.50 and 3.2% at EUR36.90, respectively. ERG finished at the top of the list with gains of 3.5% at EUR21.74 per share.
On the Small-Cap, Elica - up 3.5% at the close - presented a new range of induction hobs based on proprietary technology at EuroCucina 2026. Specifically, the group developed the new ID Technology internally, a proprietary hardware and software platform resulting from an investment of approximately EUR2 million and three years of dedicated work by a team of engineers.
IGD SIIQ - which closed up 2.3% - signed a contract through its subsidiary Win Magazin with Dolphin Invest for the sale of two assets located in Ploiesti, a city of about 180,000 inhabitants located approximately 60 km north of Bucharest.
Following the previous day's bullish performance, The Italian Sea Group hit the bottom of the basket with a negative result of 4.9% at EUR1.998 per share.
Among SMEs, Italian Wine Brands - up 3.0% - launched a new share buyback program for a maximum of 15,000 shares, for a total value of up to EUR375,000.
Ubaldi Costruzioni announced on Tuesday that in the first quarter of the year, the backlog stood at approximately EUR225.3 million, highlighting strong growth in the order book, as the company wrote in a note. The stock was bullish, up 0.2%.
The board of Saccheria F.lli Franceschetti approved the management revenue figures as of March 31, recording revenues of EUR5.4 million, up 25% compared to EUR4.4 million in the first quarter of 2025. The stock showed a contraction of 7.1% to EUR1.31 per share.
Arterra Bioscience, with daily gains of 4.3%, announced that the "Re-Food" project has been admitted for funding and grants provided under the public notice for strengthening strategic supply chains. The project will last three years, and the cost deemed appropriate by the Commission for the Arterra Bioscience portion is EUR720,012.
In New York, the Dow Jones is down 0.2%, the Nasdaq 0.1%, and the S&P 500 0.2%.
On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1747 from USD1.1784 on Monday evening, while the pound is trading at USD1.3506 from USD1.3535 yesterday evening.
Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD98.16 per barrel from USD95.07 per barrel on Monday evening, while gold is worth USD4,737.10 per ounce from USD4,804.62 per ounce yesterday evening.
Wednesday's economic calendar includes the Japanese trade balance at 0150 CEST, and consumer and producer price index data in the UK starting from 0800 CEST.
At 1200 CEST, the German Buba monthly report is due, while at 1300 CEST the focus shifts to US mortgages.
On Piazza Affari, results are expected from Gismondi 1754, Racing Force, Sicily by Car, and Vantea SMART.
By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News reporter
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