European markets expected to fall in the wake of Wall Street

(Alliance News) - On Friday, the main European stock markets are expected to open lower, with futures pointing to mostly selling, in line with Wall Street's closing in the red.

The FTSE Mib is down 430 points or 1.0%, the CAC 40 in Paris is expected to be down 1.1% or 86 points, the DAX 40 in Frankfurt is expected to be down 1.2% or 287.5 points, and the FTSE 100 in London is expected to be down 1.0% or 97.1 points.

Last night, the Mib ended trading up 0.6% at 42,917.64 points, the Mid-Cap up 0.8% at 57,548.83, the Small-Cap gained 0.8% to 35,032.33, and the Italia Growth was slightly negative at 8,337.48 points.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, the major shareholders of Banco BPM, up 0.5%, are preparing for the renewal of the board of directors in the spring, with a focus on Credit Agricole and the agreement between banks and foundations.

The French group, currently close to 20%, could obtain the ECB's approval to increase its stake to 29.9% by 2026, becoming central to governance.

There were also purchases on UniCredit, up 1.4% to EUR62.84 per share.

BPER, which closed down 0.2% despite denials of interest from UniCredit, is strengthening its defenses, while in the background the possibility remains open of infringement proceedings by the EU against the Italian government regarding the use of Golden Power.

STMicroelectronics, which fell 2.1%, and TSE have signed a physical energy purchase agreement for the supply of renewable electricity from solar parks to STM sites in France.

TSE will supply STMicroelectronics with renewable energy generated by three solar parks in France, managed by TSE, for a total of approximately 43 MW. This 15-year contract, starting in 2027, represents a total volume of approximately 780 GWh.

The energy sector led the market with purchases of A2A up 2.2%, Hera up 3.1%, and Italgas up 2.2%.

Leonardo also performed well, rising 2.9%, and together with EDGE Group, defined the general principles for the establishment of a new joint venture in the United Arab Emirates, scheduled for 2026.

Stellantis closed the basket down 3.0%.

In the Mid-Cap segment, CIR, which gained 6.5%, announced that, together with F2i, it had reached a binding agreement for the sale to CIR of the 40.2% stake in KOS held by F2i Healthcare, a company 61.4% owned by F2i. The consideration for the shares purchased is EUR220.0 million.

MFE-MediaForEurope closed the first nine months with a net profit of EUR 243.1 million, up from EUR 96.2 million at September 30, 2024. A and B shares gained 2.2% and 1.3%, respectively.

NewPrinces was the worst performer on the list with sales of 6.0%.

In the Small-Cap segment, Banca Sistema, with sales of 0.1%, received a payment of EUR 103 million from the municipality that was the final recipient of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights and has since emerged from bankruptcy.

Piquadro, up 1.3%, closed the half-year to September 30 with a profit of EUR 5.1 million, up from EUR 5.0 million a year earlier. Consolidated revenues rose to EUR 88.4 million from EUR 87.8 million, with the Piquadro brand down to EUR 36.6 million from EUR 39.8 million.

I Grandi Viaggi recorded double-digit purchases, with 11% at EUR 2.21 per share.

Among SMEs, Espe gained 2.7%. The company signed two contracts with two new Italian customers for the construction of two advanced agrivoltaic plants located in the province of Bologna, for 9.8 MWp and a value of EUR 6.0 million, and in the province of Treviso, for 5.2 MWp and a value of EUR 4.5 million.

Circle has launched a EUR 300,000 strategic project with a leading Mediterranean group active in terminal and shipping services, aimed at digitally transforming its logistics processes in line with European standards and the objectives of the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan). The stock closed down 1.9%.

First Capital approved the distribution of an extraordinary dividend of EUR1.75 per share, with a dividend yield of over 9%, for a total amount of approximately EUR6.1 million from the extraordinary reserve of profits from previous years. The stock was down 0.5%.

The board of Siav, up 1.5%, approved the voluntary liquidation of its foreign subsidiaries Mitric SA and Siav Suisse Sagl, both in Switzerland, and Siav East Europe Srl in Romania, as well as the closure of the Manno branch.

The 100% owned shareholdings will be deconsolidated starting from the 2026 financial statements, with the transactions expected to be completed by December 31, 2025.

Good purchases on Nusco, up double digits at 16% to EUR0.855 per share. Più Medical made its stock market debut, closing down 3.2%.

In New York, the Dow fell 0.8% to 45,752.26, the Nasdaq fell 2.4% to 24,054.38, and the S&P 500 fell 1.6% to 6,538.76.

In Asia, the Nikkei fell 2.3% to 48,625.88, the Shanghai Composite ended down 2.5% at 3,834.89, and the Hang Seng fell 2.2% to 25,267.00 points.

On the currency front, the euro traded at USD 1.1543 from USD 1.1535 at Thursday's stock market close, while the pound traded at USD 1.3086 from USD 1.3094 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude traded at USD 62.37 per barrel, down from USD 63.31 per barrel at Thursday's close, while gold was worth USD 4,034.80 per ounce, down from USD 4,064.35 last night.

On Friday's economic calendar, the French manufacturing index is expected at 0915 CET, followed by the German index at 0930 CET.

The same index will be assessed for the entire Eurozone at 1000 CET, while Spanish consumer confidence will be released at 1300 CET.

Speeches by Fed governors are expected from 1445 CET, while the focus on the US economy comes at 1600 CET with reports on new construction, manufacturing, and industrial production.

At 7:00 p.m. CET, Baker Hughes will release data on the total number of extraction facilities.

DHH's nine-month results are expected on the Milan Stock Exchange.

By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter

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