(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed higher on Monday, in a day marked by some weakness for other European stock exchanges, from which they recovered at the close.

Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG, said, "It was a slow start to the week for the markets, in what was a remarkable turnaround from last week's frenetic movements. The August flat calm is firmly upon us and while Wall Street stocks continue to recover gains, a cautious mood prevails ahead of Wednesday's inflation readings for the US and UK. Things may have calmed down but jitters have not completely disappeared."

The FTSE Mib closed up 0.% 31,928.32, the Mid-Cap was up 0.4% to 45,121.58, the Small-Cap gave up 0.2% to 27,851.20, and Italy Growth gained 0.4% to 7,870.09.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent, Paris' CAC 40 closed down 0.2 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 finished up 0.1 percent.

On the Mib, utilities led the gains, with A2A gaining 0.9 percent and Snam posting a 0.6 percent increase.

Better than all, however, are Azimut Holding, up 1.4%, and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, up 2.3%.

Good buys also on Banca Mediolanum, up 1.3% to EUR10.23, on the heels of a 2.0% rise in the previous session. Of note, Jefferies cut its target price to EUR13.10 from EUR10.90.

Mediobanca gained 0.9%. Worth mentioning that Jefferies increased target price to EUR14.80 from EUR12.60 with 'hold' recommendation.

Poste Italiane - up slightly - reported that it bought 710,802 of its own shares in the period from August 7 to August 9. The average price per unit was EUR11.78, with a total value of EUR8.3 million.

Come on Brunello Cucinelli, down 1.0%, after three sessions closed with bullish candle.

On the Mid-Cap, Industrie De Nora gives up 2.5% and records the steepest decline on the list.

MFEs also hurt, with Type A shares down 1.1% and Class B shares in the red by 1.8%.

In contrast, Anima Holding gained 2.2 percent, with the company proceeding steadily with its buyback plan. Most recently, it reported on Friday that - in the week of Aug. 5 to Aug. 9 - it bought back its own shares worth about EUR1.7 million.

Ariston Holding -- up 0.7 percent -- announced on Friday that it had bought back 686,712 of its own ordinary shares at an average price of EUR3.6448 for a total consideration of EUR2.5 million. The transactions were carried out between August 2 and August 9.

Technoprobe rose 1.1 percent, rearing its head again after two bearish candles. Of note, on the stock Beremberg cut its target price to EUR7.30 from EUR7.50.

On the Small-Cap, AbitareIn closed up 1.2% to EUR4.40 per share, after Friday's 2.0% decline.

Also doing well was Il Sole 24 Ore, which posted a plus 1.7 percent after a 0.6 percent rise in the previous session.

At the back of the pack, Bestbe Holding and EPH give up 20 percent apiece and Netweek drops 8.1 percent.

Among SMEs, expert.ai rose 7.3 percent, following up the previous session's 3.2 percent green.

Bellini Nautica, on the other hand, fell 1.4 percent to EUR2.92, reversing course after the previous three bullish sessions.

Cloudia Research, on the other hand, lost 6.8 percent, the subject of profit taking after four sessions of gains.

Finally, Gismondi 1754 gave up 4.1 percent.

In New York, the Dow is up slightly at 39,506.28, the Nasdaq rises 0.9 percent to 16,891.17, and the S&P 500 gains 0.5 percent to 5,370.82.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0933 versus USD1.0924 in Friday's European equities close while the pound is worth USD1.2788 from USD1.2769 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD80.54 per barrel versus USD79.42 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,448.24 an ounce from USD2,428.60 an ounce on Friday evening.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar features Japanese asset prices at 0150 CEST, British unemployment data at 0800 CEST, and Spanish inflation an hour later. At 1100 CEST, eyes on the ZEW index of German and Eurozone economic conditions, coming at the same time as Chinese money supply data.

In the afternoon, at 1430 CEST, focus on U.S. producer prices. The day will close with weekly U.S. crude oil inventories.

Among companies in the Piazza Affari, no particular corporate events are expected.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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