Mib in the green, driven by the banking sector

(Alliance News) - On Monday, the main European indices ended in positive territory, with the Italian stock exchange recording the best result among the markets of the Old Continent, while overseas, Wall Street indices traded lower.

"The morning's positivity has faded, as Friday's selling extends into Monday's session in the US," comments IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"At this point," the expert explains, "the temptation for many investors to take profits after such a strong recovery since April must be overwhelming, especially with numerous macro events on the calendar for the week. That said, we are still about 36 hours away from the traditional pre-Christmas rally in the stock markets, so it may not be entirely wise to exit too early."

Thus, the FTSE Mib closed up 1.4% at 44,116.96, the Mid-Cap gained 0.6% to 58,699.39, the Small-Cap fell 0.2% to 36,132.32, while the Italy Growth advanced 0.6% to 8,508.04.

The FTSE 100 in London closed up 1.1%, the CAC 40 in Paris advanced 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt gained 0.3%.

Back in Milan, the banking sector led the gains on the Piazza Affari's largest cap index, with Banca Monte dei Paschi performing best, ending the day up 2.7%.

Banco Mediolanum and Banca Popolare di Sondrio posted similar gains, closing at EUR15.835 per share after hitting a new 52-week high of EUR15.85.

Banco BPM performed well, up 2.6%, as did BPER Banca, up 2.5%.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, there are increasingly clear signs of Generali's new course - up 1.1% - and the weight of the new shareholders: from the creation of the position of general manager, entrusted to Giulio Terzariol, to the definitive abandonment of the wealth management joint venture project with Natixis, strongly desired by the CEO, Philippe Donnet.

Enel, up 1.7%, announced on Monday that it had completed the acquisition of a portfolio consisting of two onshore wind farms in Germany with a total installed capacity of 51 MW. The transaction, which contributes approximately EUR 10 million per year to the group's ordinary EBITDA, has an enterprise value of approximately EUR 80 million and represents the Enel group's first significant acquisition of a portfolio of operating plants in Germany.

European mission for A2A. Starting in 2026, the multi-utility controlled by the municipalities of Milan and Brescia aims to expand across borders, with the goal of strengthening both industrial and commercial growth and establishing itself as a European operator. Of the EUR 23 billion in investments planned for 2024-2035, EUR 15 billion still to be launched may be partly allocated abroad, although Italy will remain the main market. A2A shares closed down 0.4%.

Among the few decliners, Eni fell 0.4%, while Campari lost 1.5%.

DiaSorin was at the bottom of the main index, down 1.6% after three consecutive bullish candles.

On the Mid-Cap, Juventus - which closed up 19% - is not for sale. Exor's board of directors unanimously rejected Tether Investments' unsolicited offer to purchase 65.4% of the club owned by the Agnelli family holding company. Tether, already an 11.5% shareholder, will remain in the capital but without increasing its stake further.

Safilo Group, up 1.5%, confirmed that it does not intend to submit a binding offer for Inspecs Group, following Inspecs' announcement on December 10 regarding the proposed acquisition by Bidco 1125.

Purchases for Avio and MAIRE, up 3.1% each.

At the bottom of the secondary market, Cembre ended the day down 1.6%.

On the Small Cap index, Landi Renzo closed the session with a double-digit gain, rising 13%.

Mondo TV - up 3.8% - announced that it had received a request from CLG Capital to convert two convertible bonds issued on September 13, 2024, for a total value of EUR 250,000.

Piquadro, down 0.4%, announced the appointment of Laura Grinzato as Chief Commercial Officer of the group. Starting in January 2026, Grinzato will lead the definition and execution of the commercial strategy across all channels and for all the group's brands.

OPS eCom, down 11%, and Beewize, down 15%, ended the day at the bottom of the list.

Among SMEs, Allcore ended the day down 3.0%. The company announced that, following Ad Maiora's exercise of its purchase option, it had completed the sale of an additional stake in the share capital of its subsidiary Re Business, worth EUR 61,500, representing 10% of the share capital, to Ad Maiora.

Datrix, up 2.1%, announced that it closed the first nine months with total revenues of EUR 10.7 million, down from EUR 12.4 million as of September 30, 2024.

Eles - up 10% - announced that its Semiconductor Division had received a new order from an established European customer, an international leader in its sector, for a test application for a System on Chip device for space mission-critical applications.

Farmacosmo, down 2.0%, announced the completion of a transaction that gives the group 100% ownership of Farmacia De Leo and therefore of the entire pharmasi.it e-commerce portal, consolidating all digital activities and simultaneously exiting the management of the physical pharmacy in Messina.

The company acquired the remaining 33% of Farmacia De Leo from Rosario De Leo for EUR 1.8 million, plus an earn-out of EUR 300,000, as already provided for in the agreements signed in November 2022.

Spindox - flat at EUR12.95 - recorded the highest trading value on the alternative list, amounting to approximately EUR3.7 million.

Smart Capital - flat at EUR 1.58 - announced that the closing had taken place for the repurchase by the Foglio/Congiu family of the entire stake held by Smart Capital, together with those held by Clessidra Capital Credit SGR, SIP, and Brixia Finanziaria, in the share capital of MGM.

In New York, the Dow fell 0.3%, the Nasdaq fell 0.5%, while the S&P 500 was down 0.3%.

On the currency front, the euro traded at USD 1.1754 from USD 1.1729 at Friday's stock market close, while the pound traded at USD 1.3378 from USD 1.3347 at the last session.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD 60.18 per barrel, down from USD 61.03 per barrel on Friday, while gold is trading at USD 4,294.12 per ounce, up from USD 4,272.47 per ounce on Friday evening.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar opens at 0130 CET in Japan with the release of the manufacturing and services PMI.

At 0800 CET, attention shifts to the UK with the unemployment rate.

At 0915 CET in France, the manufacturing PMI, composite and services data are scheduled, followed at 0930 CET by the same indicators for Germany, at 1000 CET by those for the Eurozone and at 1030 CET for the UK.

At 1000 CET, the consumer price index is released in Italy.

At 1100 CET, the agenda continues with the Italian trade balance, the ZEW survey on German economic sentiment, and the eurozone trade balance.

In the afternoon, at 2:30 p.m. CET, retail sales and the unemployment rate are released in the US.

At 3:45 p.m. CET, the US manufacturing and composite PMIs are expected.

At the end of the day, at 2230 CET, weekly oil inventories will be published in the US.

No events are scheduled for companies listed on the Italian stock exchange.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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