(Alliance News) - European stock markets are expected to open cautiously on Tuesday, according to IG futures, at the start of an important week for central banks to announce their monetary policy decisions.

On Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 3.85 percent, displacing many economists who predicted there would be no change while the Fed is scheduled to announce on Wednesday evening and the ECB on Thursday.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is expected to rise 38.9 points or 0.1 percent after closing 0.3 percent in the red at 27,077.44.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is expected to open just above par, London's FTSE 100 is expected to be in the green by 16.9 points or 0.2 percent while Frankfurt's DAX 40 is given fractional red.

"Today the Eurozone will reveal its quarterly bank lending survey, which will show how the recent banking stress has impacted credit growth in Europe, and flash CPI figures for April. Both data are extremely important in shaping expectations about what the European Central Bank will do this Thursday," commented Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank.

According to analysts' consensus forecasts on Bloomberg, overall Eurozone inflation may have returned to 7 percent in April due to higher energy prices, but core inflation is seen stable at 5.7 percent, the all-time high.

"If the inflation data do not surprise to the upside and if the bank lending survey does not sound the death knell on credit growth, the ECB should be happy to offer a 25 basis point increase at this week's meeting. However, a positive surprise on the inflation data front or an unwanted credit crunch could tip the balance toward a 50 bp increase or no rate hike, respectively. It all depends on the data," the expert added.

Among Italy's smaller lists on Friday evening, the Mid-Cap closed up 0.1 percent to 43,420.57, the Small-Cap gave up 0.1 percent to 29,102.15, and Italy Growth finished in the green 0.2 percent to 9,254.83.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, Banco BPM gave up 4.2 percent to EUR3.69 per share after last night's gain of 2.6 percent.

FinecoBank closed with minus 3.8%, after two sessions among the bullish.

Banca Monte dei Paschi also gave ground, marking minus 4.2 percent after being the best of the previous session by rising 4.4 percent.

Eni's board of directors -- in the green by 2.0% -- announced Friday that it had approved consolidated results for the first quarter, having reported adjusted pre-tax profit of EUR4.98 billion, down 5.0% from the same period last year when it was EUR5.23 billion.

Saipem closed up 2.9 percent to EUR1.3860. Capital Fund Management raised its short position to 1.1% from 1.0% previously.

Tenaris also did well, advancing 2.8% after falling 3.6% on the eve.

On the Mid-Cap, positive notes include Antares Vision, which marked a plus 2.3%. The company announced Wednesday that it has acquired, through its subsidiary rfxcel, 100 percent of Smart Point Technologies Ltd, an Indian software development company that creates complex and innovative solutions. The total outlay for Smart Point is EUR7.8 million.

Salvatore Ferragamo also advanced well, rising 1.5 percent to EUR15.93.

Seco, on the other hand, appreciated 3.6 percent to EUR4.65, after a 0.8 percent decline on the eve.

In the rear ranks was LU-VE, down 3.2% after the previous two sessions closed in the green.

Also in the rear ranks was MFE stock, with class A shares giving up 4.0% and class B shares 2.9%.

On the Small-Cap, good buying on Eukedos, with the stock ahead 4.8 percent with price at EUR1.20, after eve's loss of 0.4 percent.

Seri Industrial gave up 3.5 percent, after announcing that in the first three months of the year it reported revenues of EUR45.0 million from EUR44.0 million in the same period a year earlier.

Conafi, on the other hand, closed up 0.5 percent to EUR0.40, on the heels of a 1.5 percent decline.

Elica's board of directors -- flat at EUR2.83 -- approved results for the first quarter of 2023, which closed with a net profit of EUR3.4 million compared to EUR4.7 million in the first quarter of 2022. The normalized result was EUR3.9 million. In Q1 2023, Elica posted revenues of EUR129.0 million, "in a market characterized by shrinking demand and impacted by destocking measures implemented by OEM customers," the company note said. Last year's first quarter was EUR144 million.

Seri Industrial gave up 3.5 percent-after a 0.7 percent loss on the eve of the meeting-bringing its weekly weekly loss to about 11 percent.

Finally, among SMEs, Fenix Entertainment gave up 9.5 percent to EUR0.2680.

Franchi Umberto Marmi left 2.2 percent on the parterre after announcing Thursday that total revenues as of March 31 amounted to EUR22.7 million, up 7 percent, compared to EUR21.1 million recorded in the same period last year, with a significant contribution from sales in Turkey, South Korea and India. Sales in the Italian market, as of March 31, 2023, increased by 4%, compared to the first three months of 2022, reaching EUR12.3 million or 54% of total revenues, confirming the good health of the domestic market.

MeglioQuesto - up 4.3 percent - reported that the board resolved to initiate a EUR7.0 million capital increase reserved for Pierluigi Ghiani and Francesco Simula. The transaction will be developed through the issuance of 4.0 million ordinary shares at a subscription price of EUR1.75 each. Of the amount of the capital increase, EUR400,000 will go to increase the company's share capital while EUR6.6 million will be allocated to share premium reserve.

It does better Casasold, which advanced 3.0 percent to EUR0.9080, positioning itself for the sixth session in a bullish trend.

In Asia, Shanghai is closed for Labor Day while the Nikkei finished in the green by 0.1 percent at 29,157.95 and the Hang Seng is up 0.4 percent at 19,960.91.

In New York, the Dow Jones closed in the red by 0.1 percent to 34,051.70, the Nasdaq finished in the red by 0.1 percent to 12,212.60 and the S&P 500 finished the day in the fractional red at 4,167.87.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0989 versus USD1.0942 at Friday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2499 from USD1.2577 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD79.11 per barrel versus USD80.30 per barrel on Friday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,983.72 an ounce from USD1,991.95 an ounce at Friday's close.

On Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar, the manufacturing purchasing managers' index from Italy will come out at 0945 CEST and the Eurozone at 1000 CEST. At 1100 CEST, again from Italy, the inflation figure, along with that from the Eurozone.

At 1200 CEST, from Italy, the consumer price index.

In the afternoon, from the US, orders from factories and at 1600 CEST the JOLTs report. At 2230 CEST it will be the turn of weekly oil stocks.

On the corporate calendar, expected results from Amplifon, Conafi, Campari, and UniCredit.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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