(Alliance News) - Major European stock markets continued to perform negatively on Tuesday after a spate of macroeconomic data arrived for the Eurozone and Italy.

Italy's consumer price inflation remained stable at 0.8 percent year-on-year in June, the same pace as in May and April, final data from Istat released Tuesday.

The slowdown in food and durable goods was offset by accelerations in energy and processed food.

Core inflation, which excludes energy and fresh food, slowed to 1.9 percent from 2.0 percent in May. The harmonized consumer price index rose 0.2 percent month-on-month and 0.9 percent year-on-year from 0.8 percent in the previous month.

After the final data in June, Istat now forecasts inflation for 2024 at 0.8 percent for the overall index and 1.9 percent for the core index.

Also on Tuesday, Istat reported that Italy's trade surplus expanded on both an annual and monthly basis in May. Italy's trade surplus with foreign countries rose to EUR6.43 billion in May from EUR4.77 billion in May 2023 and EUR4.81 billion in April this year.

In the Eurozone, in addition to the drop in investor morale in May, the single currency area posted a EUR13.9 billion surplus in trade in goods with the rest of the World in May compared to a EUR400 million deficit in May 2023, Eurostat reported.

The FTSE Mib is down 0.3 percent to 34,268.94, the Mid-Cap is tied at 48,527.94, the Small-Cap gives up 0.3 percent to 29,019.17 while Italy Growth loses 0.1 percent to 8,121.26.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the red 0.6 percent to 7,584.16, London's FTSE 100 is down 0.2 percent to 8,167.02 and Frankfurt's DAX 40 gives up 0.5 percent to 18,501.97.

On the Mib, among the few stocks rising is FinecoBank, which is up 2.5 percent.

Doing worst of all is the fashion sector, with Brunello Cucinelli and Moncler in the red by 2.4 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

As Francesco Bonazzi wrote on his column in Alliance News, "China has been the world's top luxury outlet for years now, and today it has frozen financial markets as well. The economy of the country led by Xi jin Ping grew 4.7 percent in the second quarter, up from 5.3 percent in the previous quarter and 5.1 percent expected. On a cyclical basis, as the National Bureau of Statistics reported, GDP growth was 0.7 percent, compared with 1.6 percent in the first quarter and 1.1 percent estimated by economists and think tanks.

"The news of the slowdown comes on the first day of the Chinese Communist Party Plenum, which is called to give a new direction to economic policy and decide on possible forms of support for consumption. Two figures are enough to give an idea of the situation: in June, China's industrial production rose 5.3 percent, while retail sales grew only 2 percent. And in the real estate market, disrupted by the Evergrande crack, new home prices are down 4.5 percent year-on-year."

In the day's news, Diasorin--up 0.5 percent--reported Tuesday that it has received "de-novo" approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Direct Simplexa C. auris kit indicated for diagnosis on patients with suspected Candida auris colonization.

The test, which applies the real-time polymerase chain reaction technique, is used for direct qualitative in vitro detection of C. auris DNA from axillary/inguinal swabs of patients with suspected colonization and is capable of identifying the six globally circulating C. auris groups.

On the Mid-Cap, ENAV Group -- in the red by 0.3 percent -- reported that it has signed a contract with Teledife -- that is, the "Telematics and Advanced Technologies Directorate of the Ministry of Defense" -- for the supply, installation and commissioning of a new radar for air traffic surveillance carried out by the Air Force at the Sigonella air base.

Specifically, the two-year contract calls for the supply of the new radar and equipment for the room that will house the air traffic controllers including the installation and commissioning activities of the new equipment.

Maire Tecnimont - up 1.3 percent - announced Monday that Tecnimont, through its Indian subsidiary Tecnimont Private Limited, in collaboration with NextChem, has been awarded by Sembcorp Green Hydrogen India Pv. an engineering study for a green ammonia plant in India.

Fincantieri drops 1.0 percent after it reported on Monday that 1.4 million unexercised option rights were sold in advance during the first offering session during the option period, giving the right to subscribe for up to 1.2 million newly issued ordinary shares of the company.

The company recalled that during the offer period between June 24 and July 11, 168 million option rights were exercised and thus 151.2 million new shares have already been subscribed, accounting for 99.2 percent of the total number of new shares offered and with a total value of EUR396.1 million.

On the Small-Cap, Somec gives up 1.1 percent after it announced Tuesday that, following the adoption of a new organizational structure for the Administration, Finance and Control area, Alessandro Zanchetta takes over as Chief Corporate Officer while Daniel Bicciato is appointed Group Chief Financial Officer.

Seri Industrial is on a par after finalizing the acquisition of 98 percent of Industria Italiana Autobus, a manufacturer of Menarinibus-branded public road transport vehicles.

In addition, the planned capital increase by Invitalia and Leonardo and the company has been subscribed. The share capital at closing is approximately EUR141.3 million, and does not include additional contributions from the sellers scheduled for July 15 and Dec. 31, 2024 for an additional EUR50 million.

Among SMEs, Casta Diva--down 1.1 percent--reported a 9.0 percent increase in first-half production value to EUR57.2 million from EUR52.7 million. Consolidated backlog value as of June 30 stood at EUR34.2 million.

Farmacosmo gives up 2.0% after announcing that it has established Farmacosmo Logistics, to which the logistics activities currently carried out by the company will be transferred.

Medica rises 0.7 percent after reporting Monday that it has increased its stake in Medico MedTech Co to 32 percent.

Medico MedTech is a trading company based in Suzhou, China, whose majority shareholder is Suzhou Huisheng Medical Science & Technology Co.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 0.2 percent at 41,275.08, the Shanghai Composite gave up 0.1 percent to 2,976.30, and the Hang Seng fell 1.6 percent to 17,727.98.

In New York at Monday's close, the Dow gained 0.5 percent to 40,211.72, the Nasdaq rose 0.4 percent to 18,472.57 while the S&P 500 closed up 0.3 percent to 5,631.22.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0897 from USD1.0912 in Monday's European equities close while the pound was worth USD1.2969 against USD1.2986 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD84.10 per barrel from USD85.09 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,439.39 an ounce from USD2,433.31 an ounce on Monday evening.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar includes retail sales data from the US in the afternoon at 1430 CEST, while the weekly oil stocks figure will be released at 2230 CEST.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

Comments and questions to redazione@alliancenews.com

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