European Markets in the Red; Stellantis Leads, Nexi Drops

(Alliance News) - On Wednesday morning, Europe's main indices opened in negative territory, with Milan's Piazza Affari hovering around 43,200 and Frankfurt recording the steepest losses.

Investor sentiment weakened following warnings from Wall Street CEOs about a possible correction within the next two years and a scaling back of expectations for a US rate cut in December.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang stated that China's economy is expected to surpass CNY170 trillion (USD23.9 trillion) within five years, highlighting the country's role as a growing market for global companies and signaling efforts to ease concerns over trade imbalances.

On the macroeconomic front, French industrial production returned to growth in September, rising by 0.8% after a 0.9% drop in August.

As a result, the FTSE Mib was down 0.1% at 43,206.71, the Mid-Cap index slipped 0.4% to 56,823.76, the Small-Cap retreated 0.6% to 36,197.48, while the Italy Growth index lost 0.2% to 8,612.69.

London's FTSE 100 was fractionally lower, Paris' CAC 40 fell 0.4%, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 dropped 0.7%.

On the blue-chip list in Milan, Stellantis started strong, up 2.2% with over 6 million shares already traded.

Ferrari also performed well, gaining 1.3% after Tuesday's 3.2% rise following its nine-month earnings release. The Prancing Horse company reported Tuesday that it closed the first nine months of 2025 with a net profit of EUR1.22 billion, up 7% from EUR1.14 billion in the same period of 2024. Net revenues grew 8% to EUR5.34 billion from EUR4.94 billion.

The Maranello-based company confirmed an upward revision of 2025 guidance, with expected revenues at or above EUR7.1 billion, adjusted EBITDA of at least EUR2.72 billion and a margin of 38.3%, adjusted EBIT of EUR2.06 billion with a 29% margin, adjusted earnings per share of at least EUR8.80, and industrial free cash flow of around EUR1.30 billion.

FinecoBank shares rose 1.2% after announcing it closed the first nine months with a net profit of EUR480.5 million, down from EUR490.0 million as of September 30, 2024. Nine-month revenues stood at EUR969.6 million, compared to EUR984.1 million in the same period of 2024.

Lottomatica slipped 0.5% after finishing at the top with a 3.3% gain on Tuesday evening.

Among the decliners, Eni dropped 0.2%. On Tuesday, the company announced the completion of the sale of a 20% stake in Plenitude Spa to Ares Alternative Credit funds, affiliated with Ares Management Corporation.

BPER Banca - down 1.0% - announced Tuesday its intention to proceed with the early redemption of its "Euro 400,000,000 Fixed Rate Tier 2 Subordinated Callable Notes" bond, originally due on November 30, 2030. The redemption date is set for November 30 this year, five years ahead of the contractual maturity.

Leonardo fell 1.2% following losses on the previous day. The company and Rheinmetall, through their 50-50 joint venture Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles, announced Wednesday they have secured the first supply contract for 21 "A2CS Combat" armored vehicles for the Italian Army. Delivery of the first vehicle is expected by the end of 2025.

At the bottom of the main index, Nexi opened down 6.3% at EUR4.182. The company released consolidated financial results as of September 30, highlighting growth in revenues and EBITDA. In the first nine months of 2025, revenues reached EUR2.64 billion, up 2.8% from EUR2.57 billion in the first nine months of 2024.

On the Mid-Cap, Safilo Group advanced 5.0% after announcing Tuesday it closed the first nine months with net sales of EUR758.4 million, up from EUR757.4 million as of September 30, 2024. Gross industrial profit for the nine months amounted to EUR459.9 million, up from EUR452.5 million in the same period last year.

Salvatore Ferragamo rebounded from Tuesday's losses, opening up 1.3% at EUR6.835. Barclays raised its target price to EUR5.10 from the previous EUR3.50.

NewPrinces - down 1.8% - confirmed Wednesday that the share capital of Princes Group, consisting of 244.7 million ordinary shares, has been admitted to the ordinary shares category of the Financial Conduct Authority's official list and to trading on the main market for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange.

MAIRE - up 0.9% - together with NextChem, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EDF and NUWARD to jointly explore cooperation opportunities for the development and implementation of NUWARD's Small Modular Reactor program.

The company also announced Tuesday it had exercised the upsize option for its "Senior Unsecured Sustainability-Linked Notes due 2030" bond, after subscriptions reached EUR200 million, the minimum amount, at the start of the placement. The company decided to increase the offer by up to an additional EUR75 million in response to strong demand, in agreement with Equita SIM, acting as placement agent.

At the bottom of the Mid-Cap index, Technoprobe lost 3.3%.

On the Small-Cap, profit taking hit Industrie De Nora, which fell 1.5% after gaining 17% on Tuesday. The company reported Tuesday it closed the first nine months of 2025 with adjusted net profit of EUR64.5 million, up 22% from EUR52.8 million in the same period of 2024.

At the end of the list, Italian Sea Group fell 8.0%.

Among SMEs, Omer - up 2.7% - announced Wednesday the start of operations for a new order commissioned by Knorr-Bremse Rail Systems Italia.

Among decliners at the bottom of the alternative list with the highest trading value, First Capital dropped 2.6%.

In New York on Tuesday evening, the Dow closed down 0.5% at 47,085.24, the Nasdaq slipped 2.0% to 23,348.64, while the S&P 500 lost 1.2% to 6,771.55.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 2.5%, the Shanghai Composite ended up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng lost 0.1%.

On the currency front, the euro was trading at USD1.1491 from USD1.1490 at Tuesday's equity close, while the pound traded at USD1.3037 from USD1.3045 on Tuesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent was trading at USD64.37 a barrel from USD64.47 at Tuesday's close, while gold was valued at USD3,980.59 an ounce from USD3,966.70 an ounce on Tuesday evening.

Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar features UK car registration data and Italian retail sales at 1000 CET. At the same time, the eurozone composite PMI and services PMI will also be released.

At 1030 CET, the UK will publish its own composite PMI and services PMI.

In the afternoon, at 1300 CET, the US will release the 30-year MBA mortgage rate and weekly mortgage applications, followed at 1500 CET in the eurozone by consumer confidence data.

At 1600 CET, investors will watch the US for the ISM non-manufacturing index, while at 1630 CET, the EIA report will be released.

The day will conclude at 1710 CET with a speech by Bank of England's Breeden.

Among companies on Piazza Affari, results are expected from Anima Holding, Banca Generali, Banca Popolare di Sondrio, BPER Banca, Buzzi, DiaSorin, Leonardo, Mediobanca, Snam, Telecom Italia, and six other companies.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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