(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed slightly up on the day following the European Central Bank's decision to cut interest rates, with traders remaining on the lookout for the Federal Reserve's moves next week.

Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst at IG, commented, "European and U.S. stock indexes posted impressive gains this week, bringing the Dow and S&P 500 within a whisker of their all-time highs. Although the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 remains 6 percent below its high, it rose by a similar percentage this week alone, nearly erasing the previous week's losses."

"After data showing that U.S. consumer sentiment is at its highest in four months, investors now anxiously await the U.S. Fed's likely first interest rate cut next week, perhaps by as much as 50 basis points. It will be the first in more than four years after holding rates at 23-year highs of 5.25-5.5 percent since last July. The Bank of England will also hold a monetary policy meeting next week, where it is not expected to cut its rates."

The FTSE Mib closed Friday up 0.3 percent to 33,568.47, the Mid-Cap rose 1.0 percent to 46,063.21, the Small-Cap gained 0.8 percent to 28,365.15, and Italy Growth gave up 0.1 percent to 7,889.03.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed up 0.3%, Paris' CAC 40 finished up 0.5% and Frankfurt's DAX 40 gained 1.0%.

On the Mib, Iveco Group did best of all, up 2.5% and with shares rising to EUR8.8640, gaining 20 cents from eve.

Telecom Italia rises 2.4 percent. The company announced Thursday that Sparkle has signed an agreement with Airtel Business-the B2B arm of Bharti Airtel, one of India's leading telecom service providers-to provide additional capacity on a diversified low-latency route between Asia and Europe.

Under the agreement, Sparkle will provide capacity on the Blue and Raman submarine cable systems connecting India to Italy.

Also going up is DiaSorin, up 1.9 percent, and Amplifon follows with a 1.6 percent gain.

Banco BPM also does well, up 0.6 percent. The company announced Thursday that its board has resolved to proceed with a securitization sale of a portfolio of more than 330 properties owned for non-instrumental use, with a total book value of about EUR295 million.

Among the bearish, Nexi gives up 2.8 percent but worse than all does Campari, in the red by 5.6 percent and with shares falling below EUR8.00 each.

On the Mid-Cap, El.En. - up 3.6 percent - reported Wednesday that the first half ended with revenues of EUR312.9 million, down about 9 percent from the same period in 2023, when they were EUR345.6 million.

Group net income reached EUR27.3 million, marking an increase of about 6 percent compared to EUR25.8 million in 2023.

Sesa, up 4.6 percent, reported Thursday that it ended the first quarter to July 31 with a group profit of EUR21.2 million from EUR22.0 million in the first quarter of 2023.

In contrast, adjusted net income attributable to the group was EUR26.6 million, up 0.5 percent from EUR26.5 million as of July 31, 2023.

In addition, the company on Thursday announced that it has signed a binding agreement, through its subsidiary Base Digitale Group, active in the Business Services sector, to acquire a 70 percent stake in Metoda Finance, thereby strengthening its expertise in the development of digital platforms and software solutions for the Financial Services industry.

Among the smallcaps, doValue -- up 8.3 percent -- on Friday announced that its subsidiary doValue Greece Real Estate Services, which specializes in real estate asset management, has signed a contract with one of Greece's leading banks to manage about 2,000 real estate assets with a net book value of about EUR200 million.

Mondo TV rises 1.8 percent. On Thursday, the company announced that it had entered into a new agreement with Hong Kong-based Studio56.

The agreement provides for the digital rights-only license of some animated series from Mondo TV's catalog including Partidei and Invention Story for the Indian territory and SAARC countries. It also announced a new agreement with Telecom Italia on Wednesday.

The new agreement covers some library titles, provides a flat fee and a three-year term.

I Grandi Viaggi falls 1.7 percent after announcing Thursday that it closed the first half with a loss of EUR1.8 million, an improvement from a loss of EUR2.0 million as of June 30, 2023.

In the six-month period, revenues stood at EUR34 million from EUR32.2 million in the first half of 2023.

Unidata gives up 1.8 percent. The company and SS Lazio -- up 1.4 percent -- announced Thursday the renewal of the partnership for three sports seasons. Until 2027 Unidata will thus continue to support the biancoceleste club as Technology Partner.

Orsero gives up 4.6 percent. The company reported Thursday that first-half net revenues of EUR744.1 million were down slightly from the EUR763.4 million recorded in the same period last year.

Among SMEs, CY4Gate gives up 9.2 percent after it reported that it closed the first half with revenues of EUR29.8 million from EUR33.1 million as of June 30, 2023.

The period closed with a loss of EUR9.2 million from that of EUR3.0 million in the first half of 2023.

Revo Insurance--up 0.2 percent--reported Thursday the completion of the approval process at the relevant regulatory bodies for the opening of the company's Spanish branch, Revo Iberia.

In New York, the Dow is up 0.7 percent to 41,370.39, the Nasdaq rises 0.6 percent to 17,673.96, and the S&P 500 marks a 0.5 percent increase to 5,623.31.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.1088 versus USD1.1033 on Thursday in closing European equities while the pound is worth USD1.3145 from USD1.3075 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD73.14 per barrel versus USD72.57 per barrel at Thursday's European stock close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,577.38 an ounce from USD2,552.95 an ounce Thursday evening.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar opens with Italian inflation at 1000 CEST and continues with the trade balance of Italy and the Eurozone an hour later.

In the afternoon, with the exception of the New York Empire State manufacturing index, no special events are reported. Instead, auctions of three-, six-, and 12-month French BTFs and three- and six-month U.S. T-Notes will be held.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, Beewize, Circle, Finanza.tech, Health Italia, Neurosoft, Toscana Aeroporti, and Yakkyo are expected to report results.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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