Markets Expected Flat After Recent Weakness

(Alliance News) - Milan's Piazza Affari is set for a slight uptick at the opening of Wednesday's trading, as fears of a tech sector bubble continue to weigh heavily on recent market performance.

The FTSE Mib is indicated up by 37.1 points, or 0.1%, after closing down 2.1% at 43,838.64 on Tuesday.

Across Europe, London's FTSE 100 is seen rising by 10.5 points, or 0.1%, Paris's CAC 40 is expected to open flat, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 is forecast to slip by 25.4 points, or 0.1%.

In Milan on Tuesday evening, the Mid-Cap index fell 1.3% to 56,651.36, the Small-Cap lost 0.5% to 34,757.28, and the Italy Growth index dropped 1.1% to 8,338.81.

On the Mib, Hera was the only gainer, closing up 0.8%.

Among the decliners, Telecom Italia ended at the bottom, down 6.7%. The company announced on Monday that it had signed a strategic agreement with Nokia to expand and modernize its 5G network, aiming to enhance services for the group's customers and support the spread of ultra-broadband in underserved areas.

The deal will enable faster and more stable mobile performance, superior network quality in both urban and rural zones, and reduced response times for digital applications and cloud services, also improving streaming, gaming, remote collaboration, and solutions for businesses and public administration.

Stellantis also declined, falling 4.4%. Banks slowed down, with MPS down 3.7%, Pop Sondrio off 3.5%, and BPER Banca losing 3.4%.

Eni--down 1.2%--reported Tuesday that its subsidiary Plenitude had signed an agreement to acquire from Neoen, a leading renewable energy company, a portfolio of 52 operational assets: 37 photovoltaic plants, 14 wind farms, and one operational battery, totaling around 760 MW of installed capacity across France.

The assets generate approximately 1.1 TWh of electricity annually.

Among other oil stocks, Tenaris lost 2.1% and Saipem dropped 2.5%.

On the Mid-Cap segment, as reported by the ECB, Credem--down 3.0%--remains the most solid bank in Italy, among the top three in Europe and second among European commercial banks, consolidating a leadership position held for years.

At the heart of this recognition is the Pillar 2 Requirement, set at 1.25%, a figure that highlights the ECB Supervisory Authority's confidence in the bank's ability to manage risks not fully covered by minimum requirements.

SOL fell 1.1%. On Monday, the company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary AIRSOL and Green Flame Gas Co, part of the Kuwaiti Al-Qattan family, have established VIVISOL Kuwait.

The new joint venture, 51% owned by AIRSOL and 49% by Green Flame Gas Co, has opened its headquarters in Kuwait City.

PharmaNutra dropped 2.7% after announcing Monday that it had been ranked 190th in the global "World's Best Companies - Sustainable Growth 2026" list published by American weekly Time, which identifies the 500 companies with the best performance in sustainable development.

On the Small-Cap, Mondo TV lost 6.8%. The company announced Friday it had signed new distribution contracts in the Asian market, considered a strategically significant area for the group.

The agreements cover the animated series Lola On Board, licensed for distribution to the Senyu group, while the series Agent203 and Lulu Vroumette will be distributed via G&CO.

Somec--down 6.0%--reported Monday that consolidated revenues for the first nine months of the year totaled EUR271.1 million, up 1.3% at constant exchange rates and slightly higher than the EUR270 million recorded as of September 30, 2024.

The performance was mainly driven by the Mestieri division, up 17%, and Talenta, which grew by 4.2%.

Among the gainers, Bestbe Holding rose 6.4%. CY4Gate also performed well, up 5.5%.

Among SMEs, Smart Capital--untraded--announced Tuesday it had launched a rights issue of around EUR8 million, approved on November 11.

The operation involves the issuance of up to 4.8 million new Smart Capital shares, with no nominal value, offered to shareholders at a ratio of 55 new shares for every 337 held, at a subscription price of EUR1.65, of which EUR1 is allocated to capital and EUR0.65 to share premium.

Novamarine, also untraded, has approved a capital increase and a shareholder loan in favor of its wholly owned subsidiary Tornado, established on July 28 to produce and market vessels under the Tornado brand.

The board approved a divisible capital increase of up to EUR1 million to be paid in cash through subscription by sole shareholder Novamarine, and a temporary, interest-free shareholder loan of EUR800,000, payable in tranches and to be repaid within five years.

Circle gained 4.0%. The company announced Monday that production value for the nine months rose 80% year-on-year to EUR18.2 million, from EUR10.1 million in the same period the previous year.

Revenues from Proprietary Software products increased to EUR6.2 million from EUR2.7 million, while revenues from Federative Milos Services rose to EUR2 million from EUR800,000.

The group's multi-year backlog, based on management data and with visibility through 2026, stood at EUR33.4 million as of September 30, up from EUR31 million at June 30.

In Asia, the Nikkei is down 0.3% at 48,537.70, the Shanghai Composite is up 0.3% at 3,949.47, and the Hang Seng is off 0.3% at 25,844.92.

In New York, the Dow closed Tuesday down 1.1% at 46,091.74, the Nasdaq lost 1.2% to 22,432.85, and the S&P 500 fell 0.8% to 6,617.32.

On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1589, up from USD1.1574 at Tuesday's equity close, while the pound is at USD1.3149, up from USD1.3139 last night.

Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD64.71 a barrel, up from USD64.11 at Tuesday's close, while gold is valued at USD4,093.90 an ounce, up from USD4,065.21 an ounce Tuesday evening.

Wednesday's economic calendar features Eurozone current account data at 0900 CET. At 1100 CET, Eurozone inflation figures will be released.

At 1200 CET, Spain's consumer confidence index will be published.

At 1300 CET, US mortgage data is due, followed by the US trade balance at 1430 CET and September industrial production at 1515 CET.

Among the companies listed on Piazza Affari, results are expected from MFE-MediaForEurope.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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