Mib in green; Buzzi and TIM lead the rises

(Alliance News) - On Wednesday, major European indexes moved mixed at the open. Piazza Affari remains above 38,800, Frankfurt leads the rises among the Old Continent's stock exchanges, while London suffers from the difficulties of yesterday's close, falling below parity.

Investors' attention is focused on the European Central Bank's decision, expected this afternoon, with the expected 25-basis-point rate cut.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.9 percent to 38,870.79, the Mid-Cap is in the green 1.0 percent to 50,491.54, the Small-Cap is up 0.6 percent to 29,824.64 while Italy Growth is in the fractional red at 7,779.19.

London's FTSE 100 is in the red by 0.7 percent, Paris' CAC 40 advances 0.5 percent while Frankfurt's DAX 40 rises 1.2 percent.

Back in Milan, on the highest-capitalization list in Piazza Affari, buying continues for Buzzi, which leads the Mib's rises -- ahead 6.9 percent -- after closing in double-digit green on the eve of the meeting.

Telecom Italia is doing well, up 4.6 percent with nearly 80 million shares already traded. The telecommunications company's board of directors yesterday approved the consolidated financial statements for fiscal year 2024, confirming the preliminary figures, with revenues at EUR14.44 billion, up 0.9% from 2023, and Ebitda at EUR4.83 billion, up 3.9%.

Leonardo opens trading in the green by 2.9 percent. As Il Corriere della Sera reported Thursday, the signing of the drone alliance agreement between Leonardo and Turkish group Baykar is expected today.

Among the bearish, the decline in utility and energy stocks continues: A2A gives up 1.0%, Hera drops 1.2%, Terna retreats 1.8, Snam is 2.3% in the red, while Enel is at the bottom of the main list with a 2.5% start-up loss.

On the Mid-Cap, Tinexta leads the rises, ahead 7.5 percent, in its fourth consecutive session in the green. Of note, ActusRayPartners raised its short position on the stock to 0.74% from 0.62% previously.

Banco di Desio e della Brianza -- up 0.8 percent -- reported Wednesday that S&P Global Ratings assigned the bank a Long-term Issuer Credit Rating of "BBB-" and a Short-Term Issuer Credit Rating of "A-3."

Iren opens up 2.9 percent. The Metropolitan City of Turin, through Metro Holding, initiates a reverse Abb deal on Iren, worth up to EUR83 million, with a price per share that could reach up to EUR2.228, Il Corriere della Sera writes Thursday.

Lottomatica Group--down 1.8 percent--reported Thursday that Gamma Intermediate had completed the sale of 26 million shares in the company, representing more than 10 percent of Lottomatica's share capital, through accelerated bookbuilding aimed at institutional investors.

MAIRE--down 0.1 percent--announced Thursday that NextChem, through its subsidiary NextChem Tech, has been awarded a three-year contract with Satorp, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies, to provide engineering and technology consulting services at the Jubail refinery sulfur recovery complex in Saudi Arabia.

At the bottom of the cadet list is Acea, in the red by 7.7 percent. The stock has lost more than 14 percent in the past 30 days.

On the Small-Cap, SYS-DAT - up 5.0% - is doing better at the start after it announced Wednesday that it has acquired an 80% stake in A & C. Holding, a Cuneo-based company specializing in services for small and medium-sized businesses.

AbitareIn is suspended after a theoretical drop of 15 percent. Yesterday, the stock dropped 7.6 percent on the parterre in Wednesday's session following the company's note in which it announced that it and its legal representative and an employee were included in the registers of legal entities and individuals under investigation by the Milan Public Prosecutor's Office. The company pleaded no involvement in the alleged investigations.

Aeroporto Guglielmo Marconi Di Bologna - flat at EUR7.70 - reported Wednesday that it recorded 643,005 passengers in February, up 12 percent over the same month in 2024.

Geox - down 2.0% - reported Wednesday that it closed 2024 with a loss of EUR34.3 million, up from a loss of EUR6.5 million in 2023. In contrast, the adjusted loss for 2024 amounted to EUR17.3 million.

illimity Bank - in the red by 4.0 percent - disclosed, compared with preliminary results disclosed to the market on Feb. 11, that it has become aware of new elements regarding the potential outcome of litigation affecting the valuation of a specific senior securitization note related to non-performing asset transformation transactions carried out in early 2024.

Seco - up 4.2 percent - on Thursday announced the expansion of its technology partnership with Qualcomm Technologies.

TXT e-solutions - in the green by 0.4 percent - announced Wednesday that it had signed a binding agreement to acquire 100 percent of IT Values, a company specializing in solutions for the digitization of processes in the public administration and enterprise market.

Among SMBs, eVISO starts ahead, up 3.2 percent, following eve's gain.

AATech - flat at EUR0.70 - announced the finalization of the acquisition of EUR100,000 of Nominal Units of the company Brand Italia for a countervalue of EUR150,000 or 12.27 percent of the share capital.

Green Oleo - unchanged at EUR0.86 - announced on Wednesday that it recorded a value of production of EUR72.1 million in 2024, marking a 15 percent increase from EUR62.6 million in 2023.

Promotica--up 1.8 percent--reported Wednesday that its board of directors approved 2024 consolidated sales, which stood at EUR93.5 million, marking an 11 percent increase from the EUR84.5 million recorded in 2023.

In New York on Wednesday evening, the Dow closed in the green 1.1 percent at 43,006.59, the Nasdaq finished up 1.5 percent at 18,552.73, and the S&P 500 advanced 1.1 percent to 5,842.63.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the green 0.8 percent to 37,704.93, the Shanghai Composite finished up 1.2 percent to 3,381.10, while the Hang Seng rose 3.3 percent to 24,369.71.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0807 against USD1.0769 in Wednesday's European equities close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2903 from USD1.2864 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD69.38 per barrel from USD68.40 per barrel at Wednesday's European stock close. Gold trades at USD2,913.21 an ounce from USD2,938.31 an ounce last night.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar at 1030 CET includes the release of the construction sector PMI for UK.

At 1100 CET, the German car registrations figure and the Eurozone retail sales figure are expected. The EU leaders' summit will be held at the same time.

In the afternoon, at 1415 CET, the European Central Bank's interest rate decision will be published, followed at 1445 CET by the ECB press conference.

From the US, at 1430 CET, will come initial and continuing claims for unemployment benefits, as well as data on exports, imports and the trade balance.

At 1600 CET the data on wholesale inventories in the US is expected, followed at 1615 CET by the speech of ECB President Christine Lagarde.

The day will close at 2230 CET with the release of the Federal Reserve's balance sheet.

Among the companies in Piazza Affari, the accounts of Amplifon, Ascopiave, Azimut Holding, Banca Generali, Banca Ifis, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banca Profilo, Digital Bros, IGD SIIQ, Italmobiliare, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Tinexta are expected.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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