(Alliance News) - At midday, markets continued to show a slight decline. In France and Germany, the construction sector is experiencing a marked downturn, with Paris posting its worst figures since July as demand plummets.
Italy is seeing a recovery in the construction sector after a three-month slump. More broadly, the sector remains under pressure across the Eurozone, where the Construction PMI fell to 44.0 in October from 46.0 in September, marking the sharpest contraction in eight months.
In this context, the Mib is down 0.3% at 43,327.13 points, the Mid-Cap slips 0.2% to 56,939.38, the Small-Cap is down 0.4% at 35,840.85, and Italy Growth loses 0.3% to 8,553.19 points.
The CAC 40 is down 0.5%, the DAX 40 slips 0.1%, and London's FTSE 100 drops 0.3%.
At Piazza Affari, Banca Popolare di Sondrio is up 0.8% after reporting a profit of EUR512.7 million, a 19% increase from EUR431.9 million recorded from January to September 2024. Net interest income stood at EUR826.9 million, up 1.6% from the same period the previous year.
BPER Banca--up 0.2%--closed the first nine months of 2025 with consolidated net profit of EUR1.53 billion, up from EUR1.17 billion in the same period of 2024. The parent company's net profit rose to EUR1.48 billion from EUR1.14 billion.
Nexi slips 0.2% to EUR4.1020 after Barclays cut its target price to EUR3.50 from EUR4.10 with an 'underweight' rating.
Iveco Group--down 0.1%--closed the third quarter with a period profit of EUR16 million, down from EUR90 million in the same quarter of 2024. Adjusted net profit came in at EUR40 million, down from EUR94 million in the comparison period.
Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena has begun procedures to amend its bylaws and introduce the possibility of presenting a "board list" ahead of the leadership renewal scheduled for April 2026: the stock is down 1.1%.
Tenaris posts a strong performance, up 1.1%, Stellantis rises 1.4%, and STMicroelectronics leads the index with a 1.6% gain.
DiaSorin records a 15% sell-off to EUR63.50 per share: net profit fell to EUR137 million from EUR141 million, while adjusted net profit dropped to EUR174 million from EUR176 million. JPMorgan cut its target price to EUR68.00 from EUR75.40, maintaining an 'underweight' rating.
On the Mid-Cap, Ascopiave grew over the nine months with a profit of EUR75.9 million, up from EUR26.6 million in the same period of 2024. The stock is down 2.3%.
Ariston Holding is up 4.1% at EUR3.856 per share and has launched a buyback program of up to 2 million shares.
Impresa has informed the Portuguese market authority of ongoing talks with MFE-MediaForEurope for a possible stake of up to 33%, specifying that no binding agreements currently exist. MFE A and MFB shares are both down 0.8%.
ERG--up 0.1%--has launched its first storage facility in Vicari, Palermo province, marking its entry into the energy storage sector.
NewPrinces, which repurchased over EUR3.0 million of its own shares in October, is down 0.4%.
Cementir Holding also sees selling pressure, closing the basket down 3.4%.
On the Small-Cap, Generalfinance announced it closed the first nine months of 2025 with net profit of EUR21.0 million, up 55% from EUR13.6 million in the same period of 2024. Revenues were strong, with net interest and other banking income rising 50% to EUR49.2 million from EUR32.9 million in the first nine months of 2024. The stock is up 0.5%.
After activist holding Hoop Club entered via its Chroma vehicle, Redfish Listing Partners has also decided to invest in FILA, the historic pencil brand: the stock benefits, up 1.0%.
OPS Ecom posts a 2.7% decline to EUR0.15, while EPH returns to the top of the basket with a 5.3% gain.
Cellularline--at the bottom of the index with a 4.0% loss--closed the first nine months of 2025 with net profit of EUR780,000, down from EUR1.1 million in the same period of 2024. Adjusted net profit fell to EUR4.7 million from EUR5.2 million.
CY4Gate, up 2.9%, announced Thursday it has secured a contract worth approximately EUR10.00 million for 2025.
The contract was signed in the third quarter of 2025 and announced today after all financial and technical conditions precedent were met.
Among SMEs, RES--Recupero Etico Sostenibile--announced its EUR20 million capital increase was fully subscribed. The stock is down 15% at EUR6.36 per share.
Datrix, up 5.5%, has signed an agreement with Banco BPM for the appointment of Specialist. The three-year agreement provides that BPM, in addition to the activities required by regulations for the Specialist role on Euronext Growth Milan, and through Banca Akros, Corporate Investment Bank of the Banco BPM Group, will also conduct financial analysis of Datrix stock and produce dedicated research.
STAR7--not traded--announced Wednesday that its US subsidiary STAR7 LLC has signed an agreement to acquire 20% of Almon. The move is part of the group's international expansion strategy aimed at strengthening its presence in the North American market, seen as strategic for future growth.
High Quality Food has signed an investment agreement with Proposta Terza for the subscription of a conditional convertible bond worth EUR5.0 million, subject to approval by the extraordinary shareholders' meeting. The stock is flat at EUR0.626 per share.
In New York, the Dow Jones advanced 0.5% to 47,311.00 points, the Nasdaq gained 0.7% to 25,620.03, and the S&P 500 ended trading up 0.4% at 6,796.29 points.
On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1515 from USD1.1477 at Wednesday's equity close, while the pound is at USD1.3085 from USD1.3039 on Wednesday evening.
Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD63.85 per barrel from USD64.30 per barrel at Wednesday evening's close, while gold is valued at USD4,004.97 an ounce from USD3,984.00 an ounce yesterday evening.
On Thursday's macroeconomic calendar, a speech by Fed's Williams is scheduled at 1700 CET, followed by Waller at 2130 CET.
The Federal Reserve's weekly balance sheet will be released at 2230 CET.
By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter
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