Mib rises to 31,700; Leonardo does best of all

(Alliance News) - In Piazza Affari on Friday, the Mib closed in the green by surpassing the 31,700 mark, in line with other European markets, with an overall rise also fueled by a drop in unemployment claims, which eased fears of a potential economic slowdown.

On Friday, in the CME Group platform's FedWatch Tool, using futures also based on the actual federal funds rate, or EFFR, the Federal Rserve cut is fully priced in. The rate cut at the September meeting has a 45 percent probability for the cut in the 500/525 bp range.

Futures indicate a 55% chance of a 50 bps cut in the 475/500 bps target.

The FTSE Mib closed up 0.1 percent to 31,782.23, the Mid-Cap was up 0.4 percent to 44,937.04, the Small-Cap closed up 0.3 percent to 27,911.00, and Italy Growth reported a 0.6 percent increase to 7,836.86.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed up 0.3 percent as did Paris' CAC 40, while Frankfurt's DAX 40 rose 0.2 percent.

On the Mib, Banca Mediolanum closed up 2.0 percent at EUR10.10 per share, after a 1.3 percent deficit balance on the eve of the meeting.

Leonardo - best on the list - on the other hand, picked up 2.3% to EUR21.65. Of note, UBS on Thursday cut Leonardo's target price to RUR28.00 from EUR30.00 with a 'buy' recommendation

Banco BPM - in the green by 0.7 percent - announced Friday that after joining the Net Zero Banking Alliance in March 2023, it continues its commitment aimed at achieving the goal of net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, in line with the targets set by the Paris Climate Agreement, of the banking book's credit and investment portfolios. Banco BPM has, therefore, set decarbonization targets to 2030 for each of the five sectors that had been identified as priorities and communicated when joining the NZBA.

Unipol -- in the red by 1.3 percent -- reported Friday that it closed the first half of the year with a profit of EUR555.0 million, up from EUR517.0 million as of June 30, 2023. Direct insurance inflows amounted to EUR8.17 billion, up 10 percent from EUR7.93 billion in the same period of 2023.

Generali -- on the losing side with 1.9 percent -- reported Friday that it ended the first half of the year with a normalized net income of EUR2.02 billion from EUR2.33 billion as of June 30, 2023, mainly as a result of realized nonrecurring gains and other one-offs related to the first half of 2023. Excluding these effects, normalized net income would be stable, the company announced. The company also announced Friday the start of share buyback transactions for a maximum of EUR500.0 million, for a number of shares not exceeding 3 percent of the company's share capital, no later than 18 months after the shareholders' resolution of April 24.

On the Mid-Cap, strength on OVS, which moves ahead by 3.9 percent, after the 2.9 percent red in the previous session. On the stock it is mentioned that Marshall Wace has limned its short position on the stock to 0.7% from 0.69% previously.

Phamanutra advanced 1.1%, after declining 0.3% on the eve.

Cembre, on the other hand, left the parter 2.1% at EUR35.70 per share, rearing its head after three sessions closed with bullish candles.

Rear-ends also for Salvatore Ferragamo, which contracted 1.7 percent, ringing the fifth session closed with a negative balance.

On the Small-Cap, Conafi advanced 8.0%, after the eve's drop with 8.2% with new price at EUR0.2170.

Bialetti Industrie - down 1.5 percent - reported Thursday that it ended the first half with consolidated revenues at EUR67.3 million from EUR63.3 million in 1H2023. Normalized Ebitda is EUR8.6 million from EUR7.7 million as of June 30, 2023.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale -- on the losing side by 4.1 percent -- said Thursday that its board of directors reviewed and approved the group's interim report, half-year ended with a net profit for the year of EUR551,000 down from EUR27.6 million as of June 30, 2023. Group loss, on the other hand, amounted to EUR2.6 million from a profit of EUR23.6 million in the same period of 2023.

Among the SMEs, Cloudia Research advanced 8.0 percent to EUR3.24 per share, after 3.4 percent green on eve.

Gismondi 1754 advanced 3.4%, on its seventh session with a bullish candle.

Askoll Eva, on the other hand, gave up 6.7 percent, after 3.2 percent green on eve.

Alfonsino, on the other hand, gave up 4.5 percent, the subject of profit taking after four sessions closed in the green.

In New York, the Dow is just below prity, the Nasdaq advances fractionally, and the S&P 500 is up 0.1 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0924 versus USD1.0906 in Thursday's European stock close while the pound is worth USD1.2769 from USD1.2727 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD79.42 per barrel versus USD78.89 per barrel at Thursday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,428.60 an ounce from USD2,416.00 an ounce on Thursday evening.

On Friday's macroeconomic calendar, Germany's wholesale price index will be available at 0800 CEST, while OPEC's mernsile report will be released at 1300 CEST.

At 1730 CEST, an auction of 3- and 6-month US Treasury bonds is scheduled instead.

On the corporate calendar, no special events are scheduled.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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