(Alliance News) - Major European stock exchanges closed Thursday's trading session in positive territory.
On the macroeconomic front, Eurozone construction activity declined at a slightly slower pace in November, with cost trends and a shortage of qualified civil engineers among the key challenges facing the sector.
In Italy, the sector returned to negative territory in November, registering the first drop in orders in three months.
The Mib ended trading up 0.3% at 43,519.07 points, the Mid-Cap gained 0.2% at 58,413.85, the Small-Cap closed flat at 35,936.16, and Italy Growth advanced 0.1% to 8,501.83 points.
Other markets were also positive: Paris's CAC 40 rose by 0.4%, Frankfurt's DAX 40 by 0.9%, and London's FTSE 100 by 0.2%.
At Piazza Affari, Stellantis climbed 3.6% following news from Washington, where President Donald Trump has proposed a sharp reduction in fuel efficiency standards--a move aimed at making it easier for "traditional" automakers to sell gasoline-powered cars.
FinecoBank, up 0.8%, reported net inflows of EUR1.0 billion in November, bringing the year-to-date total to EUR11.8 billion. In November last year, net inflows were EUR941 million.
Poste Italiane--down 0.6%--is considering two deals: increasing its stake in TIM by acquiring an additional 2.5% from Vivendi, raising its holding to 27.3%, and acquiring a 49% interest in PagoPa. CEO Matteo Del Fante has not denied ongoing negotiations.
Eni signed its first long-term agreement with Turkish company Botas for the supply of LNG to Turkey: 0.4 Mtpa for 10 years starting from 2028, continuing the three-year deal signed in 2025. The stock was slightly negative at EUR16.35 per share.
Regarding the investigation into MPS and Mediobanca, tomorrow the board of the Siena-based bank will update on the progress of the probe and review its industrial strategy: the MPS-Mediobanca plan--both stocks down 1.2% and 1.1% respectively--is due in March, alongside board renewal in the spring and a planned statute amendment to introduce a board list, pending ECB approval.
On the Mid-Cap, d'Amico International Shipping signed, via its subsidiary, two new time-charter contracts with a leading counterparty. The stock was up 1.8%.
Fincantieri and ASRY signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore new opportunities for collaboration in the shipbuilding sector. For the Italian company, this opens the door to the Bahraini market and further strengthens its Middle East presence. The stock, up 3.6% today, will be listed on the Mib starting December 22.
Plenitude and Acea--down 0.5%--signed a binding agreement in Rome worth EUR587 million for Plenitude's acquisition of 100% of ACEA Energia, a company active in the retail energy market, including a 50% stake in Umbria Energy.
Avio saw strong buying, rising 7.1% to EUR25.80 per share.
On the Small-Cap, Zest announced the completion of the stock market offer for 43.3 million unexercised option rights as part of its capital increase: 10.3 million rights were sold for about EUR2,000, and following their exercise, 2.2 million new shares--about 5.9% of the increase--were subscribed for EUR265,000. The stock fell 2.0%.
The board of OPS eCom--down 4.4%--is acquiring SCL: the preliminary contract has been signed, and the deal, which may be completed by OPS eCom or one of its subsidiaries, will close after ongoing procedures and checks. The total price is EUR330,000. OPS will also provide SCL with up to EUR250,000 in extraordinary financial support.
Fidia announced it has received a request from Global Growth Holding Limited to convert 10 bonds from its convertible bond loan with warrants: the price is EUR0.13 per share, resulting in the issuance of 769,230 new shares. The stock dropped 5.6%.
Centrale del Latte d'Italia posted double-digit losses, down 13% to EUR5.0 per share.
Among SMEs, Eprcomunicazione--up 9.2%--reported that its subsidiary Justbit is part of a temporary business group led by Changee that has won a EUR1.1 million contract from a major company in the transport and mobility sector.
TMP Group renewed its annual partnership for 2026 with sports brand Wilson. The collaboration has been active for four seasons. The stock declined 3.4%.
Additionally, Smart Capital announced that its subsidiary Midolini Group has finalized the sale of 100% of Midsea's share capital to the Equiter Infrastructure II fund, managed by Equiter SGR.
Predict--not traded--announced Wednesday that it has secured a EUR65,570 order for the sale of two Mistral Sampler units to the Interuniversity Department of Physics at Politecnico di Bari.
Elsa Solution saw strong buying, closing up 11% at EUR2.12 per share.
In New York, the Dow slipped 0.1%, the Nasdaq was steady at 23,455 points, while the S&P 500 was slightly negative at 6,845.01.
On the currency front, the euro was trading at USD1.1656 from USD1.1664 at Wednesday's equity close, while the pound was at USD1.3351 from USD1.334 last night.
Among commodities, Brent crude traded at USD63.54 per barrel from USD63.05 per barrel at yesterday's close, while gold was valued at USD4,213.96 an ounce from USD4,221.25 an ounce last night.
On Friday's economic calendar, at 0800 CET the focus will be on UK housing data, while France's import-export figures will be released at 0845 CET. Italian retail sales data is due at 1000 CET, with a Eurozone employment update at 1100 CET.
In the afternoon, starting at 1600 CET, attention in the US will turn to the personal consumption expenditures price index, with a spotlight at 2130 CET on net speculative positions in commodities.
No significant announcements are expected from Piazza Affari.
By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter
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