(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed Wednesday's session lower, in line with other European stock exchanges, while Monte dei Paschi and Prysmian were saved on the Mib--among the few.

According to Stephen Brown, Deputy Chief North America Economist at Capital Economic, "With the disinflationary trend widening and the unemployment rate rising, recent comments by Fed officials suggest that the FOMC is on track to cut interest rates in September."

"Although next week's statement will be slightly modified to reflect the increasing likelihood of a cut at the next meeting, we suspect that the chairman, Jerome Powell, will wait until the Jackson Hole symposium in August to initiate the move more explicitly."

The FTSE Mib closed Thursday down 0.5 percent to 34,471.65, the Mid-Cap lost 0.8 percent to 48,037.75, the Small-Cap gave up 0.5 percent to 29,063.48, and Italy Growth finished down 0.3 percent to 8,068.55.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 lost 0.2 percent, Paris' CAC 40 gave up 1.0 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 was down 0.8 percent.

On the Mib, among the few bullish performers was Prysmian, which closed up 0.1 percent at EUR63.46, after it signed a new EUR450 million financing agreement with the European Investment Bank to facilitate power transmission and distribution in Europe.

To support growing demand for renewable energy, particularly offshore wind, Prysmian will use resources made available by the EIB to build new production lines for ultra-high-voltage submarine cables, lines for onshore high-voltage cables, as well as technical improvements on existing lines.

Also good on ItalGas, up 1.1 percent after announcing Wednesday that it reported total adjusted revenues in the first six months of the year of EUR872.3 million from EUR931.8 million as of June 30, 2023.

For the period, adjusted net income amounted to EUR241.5 million, up 13 percent from the same period last year, when it stood at EUR213.2 million.

Up Monte dei Paschi di Siena, by 1.0 percent, and BPER Banca, up 1.5 percent, in a mixed banking sector.

The board of directors of UniCredit -- up 0.2% -- approved the consolidated half-year report as of June 30. Net income in the second quarter reached EUR2.68 billion, up 16 percent from EUR2.31 billion in the same period of 2023.

FinecoBank closed down 0.2 percent to EUR16.0750 per share. Of note, JP Morgan cut its target price to EUR16.60 from the previous EUR16.80.

Iveco Group -- down more than 15 percent -- reported Wednesday that it posted adjusted net income of EUR335 million for the first half of the year, up from EUR243 million in the same period of 2023. Revenues amounted to EUR7.3 billion from EUR7.5 billion in the first half of 2023. Adjusted Ebit is EUR528 million, up from EUR485 million reported as of June 30, 2023.

On the Mid-Cap, Salvatore Ferragamo lost 3.0 percent to EUR7.99 per share, on the heels of the 1.3 percent negative viglia balance.

Cembre gave up 1.1 percent to EUR36.80 per share after the 0.7 percent red on the eve.

Iren--up 1.7 percent--reported Tuesday evening that ratings agency Standard & Poor's Global Ratings confirmed Iren Group's long-term credit rating at "BBB" Outlook "Stable." The same rating is also given to senior unsecured debt.

Fincantieri -- up 0.6 percent -- announced Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement with Carnival to design, engineer and build three new cruise ships for the Carnival Cruise Line brand.

On the Small-Cap, Banca Sistema is up 3.6 percent, rebounding after four bearish sessions.

Strength also on Avio, up 2.1 percent with new price at EUR12.84. During trading, the stock updated its 52-week high at EUR13.14.

doValue - down 2.0 percent - reported Tuesday evening that its subsidiary doValue Greece Loan and Credit Claim Management Company SA has been awarded servicing mandates for four portfolios.

Sogefi - in the red by 5.3% - reported Tuesday that it ended the first half of the year with a profit of EUR145.8 million from EUR31.4 million in the same period last year. Revenues amounted to EUR524.1 million, down 2.7 percent from EUR538.9 million in the first half of 2023 "due to the performance of the European market."

Among SMEs, Convergenze rose 2.2 percent after losing the same percentage the day before. The stock, on the average of analysts on the MarketScreener platform, has an average target price of EUR3.87, thus being under-priced by more than 134 percent.

Maps - up 1.6 percent - disclosed on Wednesday that it had won Edison's tender for the four-year supply of its "Energy Communities" platform.

Comal - down 0.3 percent to EUR3.32 - announced Wednesday that it has acquired an industrial site in the province of L'Aquila where a factory will be built to produce innovative, high-efficiency photovoltaic modules. A partner in the project is Mediocredito Centrale, which has finalized with the company a EUR5.0 million mortgage loan with a ten-year term and a guarantee from SACE Futuro.

Circle -- up 1.0 percent -- announced Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with a Mediterranean port for Free Zone's also-valued customs digitization and related federated services PCS Services. The agreement, worth about EUR100,000, will run for 12 months and aims to complete the digitization of Free Zone and evolve interoperability services with port stakeholders.

Gismondi 1754 -- down 3.4 percent -- reported Wednesday that it had total sales of EUR7.1 million in the first half of the year, down from EUR7.9 million in the same period last year.

In New York, the Dow is down 1.0 percent to 39,965.75, the Nasdaq gives up 2.4 percent to 17,559.52 and the S&P 500 loses 1.6 percent to 5,466.39.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0856 versus USD1.0880 in Tuesday's closing European equities while the pound is worth USD1.2921 from USD1.2907 Tuesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD81.35 per barrel from USD82.29 per barrel at Tuesday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,421.29 an ounce from USD2,386.78 an ounce on Monday evening.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar opens with the French economic state survey, due at 0845 CEST, followed by German corporate expectations, due out at 1000 CEST, the same time as the release of Eurozone money supply and private lending data.

From France, at 1200 CEST, eyes on data on job seekers, before moving overseas, where, at 1430 CEST, U.S. jobless claims, Gross Domestic Product, trade balance and durable goods orders will be published.

At 1630 CEST, focus on natural gas storage while the day will close at 2230 CEST with the Federal Reserve's balance sheet.

Among the companies in Piazza Affari, results from Acea, Banca Generali, Enel, Eni, Stellantis, STMicroelectronics, among others, are expected.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

Comments and questions to redazione@alliancenews.com

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