(Alliance News) - Major European stock markets closed in negative territory on Friday, with trading rooms assessing a range of macro data as well as election data from the UK.

Among them, the latest U.S. employment data showed some moderation in hiring, while still supporting expectations of a Fed rate cut in September.

German industrial production fell 2.5 percent in May, disappointing expectations and marking the second contraction this year, the largest decline since late 2022.

On the purely political side, the UK is witnessing a change of the helm in government, with Labour taking office after 14 years in opposition. Sir Keir Starmer's Labour won a historic victory in the election held yesterday.

As widely predicted by all the latest polls and confirmed by early exit polls, Britain's main opposition party won a majority in the House of Commons against the Tory Conservatives of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who resigned as leader of the Tories in the morning.

Starmer's Labour elected 412 out of 650 MPs in Westminster, gaining a historic and overwhelming majority with a huge gap from the Conservatives, the second-largest party at the end of the count, which stood at 121 seats.

Thus, the FTSE Mib-after much of the session in positive territory-closed in the red by 0.4 percent to 33,987.67, the Mid-Cap was up 0.5 percent to 47,982.67, the Small-Cap advanced 0.4 percent to 29,332.95, and Italy Growth gave up 0.2 percent to 8,092.91.

In Europe, Paris's CAC 40 closed 0.3 percent in the red, London's FTSE100 gave up 0.5 percent, while Frankfurt's DAX 40-the only bullish-rose 0.1 percent.

Outperforming on the Mib was STMicroelectronics, up 2.2%, on its fourth bullish candle.

FinecoBank, on the other hand, rallied 1.3%. The company reported Thursday that net inflows in June amounted to EUR997 million -- compared to EUR764 million in the same month of 2023 -- thus surpassing the EUR5 billion threshold in the first half of the year for the fourth consecutive year. The managed component totaled EUR424 million, with Fineco Asset Management's retail inflows at EUR215 million and largely offsetting EUR84 million in outflows from insurance.

Saipem also strengthens, in the green by 0.1%, rallying etsta after two bearish sessions.

Enel, on the other hand, in the green by 0.9%, ended with a bullish candle for the third time.

Terna, on the other hand, rose 0.7 percent after it signed an ESG-linked Credit Facility Agreement with UniCredit on Thursday - up 0.6 percent - for a total amount of EUR200 million. The credit facility will have a total term of five years, with an interest rate also linked to Terna's performance on specific environmental, social and governance indicators.

Among the bearish, Amplifon sat on the bottom, giving up 6.5 percent to EUR31.12 per share, in its third bearish session.

Sales also on Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, which retreated 1.9 percent to EUR4.83 per share after two sessions ended in the green.

On the cadet list, Salvatore Ferragamo rose 1.1 percent bringing the price to EUR8.57. On the stock it is mentioned that Goldman Sachs upgraded its recommendation on the stock to 'neutral' from 'sell,' albeit cutting the target price to EUR9.10 from EUR10.00.

Also doing well was Technoprobe, which closed up 0.2 percent to EUR9.29 per share, in its fourth consecutive session closed in the black.

The board of directors of Maire Tecnimont -- down 0.5 percent -- on Thursday approved the transfer to its subsidiary NextChem Spa of the entire stake in KT TECH Spa, a company formed following the recent spinoff of KT Kinetics Technology Spa, operating in the Integrated E&C Solutions BU.

KT TECH was assigned, effective July 1, the business unit known as "know-how and technology," including personnel, expertise and contracts

related to technologies mainly for hydrogen and methanol production and sulfur recovery.

d'Amico, on the other hand, gave up 2.5 percent, following the eve's red with 0.9 percent and bringing the price to the EUR7.43 area.

On the Small-Cap, Abitare In sta closed ahead 8.3% at EUR4.44 per share, on its third bullish candle.

Good session also for Beghelli, which is up 2.1% with new price at EUR0.2480, on the heels of the eve's green closed with a plus 2.1%.

Aeroporto Guglielmo Marconi Di Bologna - in the green by 0.5 percent - on Thursday reported that it had reached a new record, with passengers reaching 1.1 million in June, up 8.9 percent on the same month last year and becoming the month with the highest passenger traffic in the airport's entire history.

Banca Profilo, on the other hand, rallied 0.5 percent to EUR0.2170, after closing two sessions bullish.

IGD SIIQ - in the green by 1.3 percent - presented the strategic guidelines of its new 2025-2027 business plan on Thursday. The plan aims to increase portfolio profitability by leveraging innovation, generate further value with the Third Party Services Business Unit, putting itself forward as a key player in the retail market, invest to keep assets modern and attractive, improving their environmental sustainability and technological and digital profile, improve the management of financial maturities and make them more consistent with cash flows, consolidate the capital structure also through a targeted plan of divestments and asset rotation, and return to dividend distribution. The plan will also include a strategy of Divestments and Asset Rotation, with divestments potentially totaling EUR100-120 million.

At the back of the pack is Tessellis, which gave up 4.4 percent after two sessions closed with a bullish candle.

Among SMEs, purchases on Ambromobiliare, which is up 6.6 percent to EUR1.30 per share after four sessions closed with a bearish candle.

Culti Milano moved ahead 3.2%, on its third bullish session.

SolidWorld Group - up 1.4 percent - announced Thursday that Dubai-based subsidiary SolidWorld Middle East DMCC has secured a EUR800,000 order to supply two 3D design and printing systems in industrial and textile environments for a major UAE government agency in October

Circle--in the red by 1.3 percent to EUR7.84--reported Thursday that it has entered into an agreement with a Mediterranean port for the use of Port Community Services offered by the group. The value of the contract is more than EUR700,000 and will run for about 18 months, expandable up to an additional EUR1.0 million for a total value of EUR1.7 million and a period of up to 24 months.

Plants, on the other hand, gave up 3.9 percent to EUR0.3460, after a 4.6 percent green in the previous session.

In New York, the Dow is picking up 0.1 percent, the S&P is advancing 0.3 percent, and the Nasdaq is up 0.7 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0829 from USD1.0813 on Thursday in closing European equities while the pound is worth USD1.2810 from USD1.2763 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude trades at USD87.80 per barrel from USD87.52 per barrel at Thursday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,386.03 an ounce from USD2,358.00 on Thursday evening.

On Monday's macroeconomic calendar, Germany's trade balance will be due at 0800 CEST, while at 1030 CEST it will be the turn of the Sentix investor confidence index.

In the afternoon, at 1700 CEST, a 3-month and 6-month Treasury bond auction is scheduled in the US instead.

On the corporate calendar, no particular event is scheduled.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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