(Alliance News) - Major European stock indices opened higher on Friday, following two consecutive sessions marked by significant downward pressure. Market participants are factoring in a series of corporate earnings reports from both Europe and the United States.
Market sentiment is being buoyed by the relative strength of the euro, seen as a potentially restrictive factor on inflation and as a lever to increase the European Central Bank's operational flexibility in managing interest rates.
Thus, the Mib is up 0.6% at EUR45,358.44 points.
The CAC 40 is advancing by 0.3%, the DAX 40 is in the green by 0.7%, while the FTSE 100 is trading just above parity.
Among the secondary indices, the Mid-Cap is up 0.7% at 60,717.55, the Small-Cap is gaining 0.6% at 37,146.58, while Italy Growth is down 0.2% at 8,761.73.
On the Milan Stock Exchange, Banca Mediolanum is performing well, up 1.3% at EUR19.86 per share, rebounding after two bearish candles.
Poste Italiane is also advancing by 0.6% at EUR22.13 per share. JPMorgan has updated its forecasts for the stock ahead of the fourth quarter 2025 results, scheduled for February 26. According to the investment bank's analysis, adjustments to the adjusted Ebit estimates are marginal, while net profit forecasts have been raised by 1.5%-3.5% for the 2025-2027 period.
JPMorgan has therefore raised Poste Italiane's price target to EUR23 per share, up from the previous EUR21.50.
Recordati – up 0.5% – announced the signing of a collaboration and licensing agreement with Moderna for the global development and commercialization of mRNA-3927, an experimental drug aimed at treating propionic acidemia, a rare hereditary metabolic disorder.
Under the terms of the agreement, Recordati will make an up-front payment of USD50 million to Moderna, plus up to an additional USD110 million linked to short-term development and regulatory milestones.
Generali is up 0.4% at EUR33.95 per share. Notably, Barclays has increased its target price on the stock to EUR28.00 from the previous EUR27.00.
Stellantis is also gaining 0.6%. The company announced it will present its strategic plan at Investor Day 2026, to be held on May 21 in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Additionally, the company is accelerating automation in its North American plants. At its Sterling Heights facility near Detroit, an artificial intelligence-powered robot can complete an inventory check in about 90 minutes—a task that would otherwise require up to 280 hours of human labor. The robot, Dexory V2, was developed by British startup Dexory and is already operational at four of the group's sites.
In the secondary segment, Salvatore Ferragamo is up 2.6%, following a 0.2% gain the previous session and trading around EUR6.48 per share.
MAIRE – up 0.7% – reported Thursday it had repurchased 618,388 of its own ordinary shares between January 23 and 29. The shares were acquired at an average unit price of EUR14.51, for a total value of EUR9.0 million.
Avio – bullish with a 6.9% gain – announced Thursday that its board has revised upwards its guidance for order backlog and net revenues for 2025. Specifically, the order backlog is expected to fall within a range of EUR2.10 billion to EUR2.20 billion, compared to previous forecasts of EUR1.70 billion to EUR1.80 billion.
Safilo Group – leading with a 7.1% gain – reported Thursday that the board reviewed key preliminary data for the 2025 fiscal year, which closed with sales of EUR983.4 million, up 1.8% at constant exchange rates compared to the previous year.
At current exchange rates, revenue fell by 1%, penalized by the weakening of the dollar against the euro.
On the Small-Cap, I Grandi Viaggi is up 4.8%, rebounding after a string of losses.
Generalfinance, on the other hand, is down 1.2% at EUR24.40 per share. Intesa Sanpaolo continues coverage of the stock, confirming a 'buy' recommendation and a target price of EUR22.10, compared to a market price of EUR24.60 at the close of January 28.
Intesa's analysis focuses on the announcement of a new POS flow factoring solution, which strengthens the company's positioning in the working capital financial services segment.
EPH – up 4.8% – announced it had signed a strategic agreement on January 27 with RONA Limited Company and Société Internationale pour les Systèmes Intelligents et l'Énergie – Tunisia for the development, financing, and construction of a photovoltaic plant in Tunisia.
Ratti is down 3.6% at EUR1.36, following a 2.8% loss in the previous session.
Among SMEs, Gismondi 1754 is up 3.0% at EUR1.55, following a double-digit gain of over 10% the previous day.
Xenia Hotellerie Solution – up 1.8% – announced Friday it recorded preliminary revenues in 2025 of EUR72 million, a 26% increase compared to December 31, 2024, when revenues were EUR57.2 million. Ebitda stands at EUR550,000, while investments total EUR10 million, in line with the investment plan through 2026, which foresees EUR25 million in investments over two years.
Novamarine – still flat with the last price around EUR8.50 – announced it closed 2025 with boat sales revenues of EUR32.1 million, up 23% compared to EUR26.1 million as of December 31, 2024. According to the company, 38 boats were sold in 2025, including two used boats, compared to 30 boats sold in 2024. The order backlog as of December 31 for boats to be delivered in 2026 amounts to EUR19.1 million.
In New York last night, the Dow Jones slipped 0.1%, the Nasdaq fell 0.7%, and the S&P 500 dropped 0.1%.
The Nikkei lost 0.1%, the Shanghai Composite declined 1.0%, while the Hang Seng closed down 2.1%.
In currency markets, the euro is trading at USD1.1929 from USD1.1936 at Thursday's European stock close, while the pound is at USD1.3765 from USD1.3778 last night.
Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD68.37 per barrel from USD70.87 per barrel on Thursday, while gold is valued at USD5,065.25 an ounce from USD5,295.34 an ounce last night.
On Friday's economic calendar, at 1100 CET, Italy's monthly unemployment rate will be analyzed, followed at 1200 CET by Italy's producer price index.
The German consumer price index is expected at 1400 CET, and at 1430 CET, Canada's GDP and the US producer price index will follow.
On the Milan Stock Exchange, results are expected from Convergenze, Emak, Soges, among others.
By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News Reporter
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