(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari is expected to open sharply higher along with other European bourses on Wednesday in the aftermath of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's statements that the Fed has made "quite a bit of progress" on inflation.

"Investors didn't need anything else to get back in the bull ride," commented Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank. "The S&P500 closed at a record high again, while the Nasdaq 100 touched the 20,000 mark for the first time in history.

According to IG futures, the FTSE Mib is expected to rise 0.8 percent or 255.0 points after closing Tuesday down 0.7 percent at 33,481.40.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is expected to be in the green by 0.7 percent or 53.9 points, Paris' CAC 40 is expected up 0.8 percent or 61.0 points, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to open up 0.5 percent or 82.4 points.

Among Italy's smaller lists last night, the Mid-Cap lost 0.4 percent to 46,869.63, the Small-Cap gave up 0.2 percent to 28,789.14, and Italy Growth finished down 0.4 percent to 8,088.78.

On the Mib, Iveco Group gave up 3.8 percent to EUR10.2350 per share after two sessions closed higher.

Marked sales also on Stellantis, which lost 2.3% to EUR18.2080 per share. Stellantis and Archer Aviation announced Tuesday that Archer has received an investment of an additional USD55 million from Stellantis as part of the strategic financing agreement between the companies, following the achievement of flight test results last month.

An investment that, as previously announced, adds to the series of purchases totaling 8.3 million Archer shares made by Stellantis in March this year. During 2023, Stellantis invested USD110 million in Archer through a combination of open market share purchases and investments made under the companies' strategic financing agreement.

Since 2020, Stellantis has been a strategic partner for Archer through various collaborative initiatives and since 2021 as an investor. Over the years, Archer has been able to benefit from Stellantis' expertise in areas such as manufacturing, supply chain, and design. This invaluable know-how has given new impetus to the design and commercialization phases of eVTOL aircraft.

Enel lost 0.3 percent, after a 1.7 percent gain on eve, with price at EUR6.5850 per share. Of note, Stifel resumed coverage on the stock with target price at EUR6.40 per share.

Prysmian - up 2.1 percent - announced that it has completed the acquisition of Encore Wire Corporation. The company acquired for cash all outstanding ordinary shares of Encore Wire for USD290.00 per share.

Telecom Italia--up 2.2 percent--announced Monday that it had finalized the sale of NetCo to KKR through the contribution of TIM's fixed network infrastructure and wholesale business to FiberCop, a 58 percent subsidiary of TIM, and the subsequent acquisition of the entire capital of FiberCop by Optics BidCo, a subsidiary of KKR.

On the Mid-Cap, Buzzi lost 3.4 percent to EUR36.02 per share, in its third consecutive bearish session.

Webuild gave up 0.5 percent. Of note, Mirabella Financial Services raised its short position on the stock to 1.22% from 1.16% previously.

OVS - up 0.2% - reported Monday that between June 24 and June 28 it bought 754,541 ordinary shares at an average unit price of EUR2.5985 for a total value of nearly EUR2.0 million.

Maire Tecnimont -- down 1.5 percent -- on Tuesday reported that NextChem has been awarded new contracts worth a total of about EUR30 million from major international clients, mainly in the Middle East and Europe.

On the Small-Cap, reverses broke Giglio Group, which falls 1.4 percent after opening up more than 5.0 percent in Tuesday's session.

TXT e-solutions - up 1.2 percent - announced the acquisition of 100 percent of the capital of Refine Direct Srl, a company born in 2016 from a project of the current selling partners that to date boasts proprietary technologies and specialized expertise in the field of digital marketing, with an offering linked to a multi-channel platform based on artificial intelligence algorithms for data analysis.

Civitanavi Systems - flat at EUR6.12 - announced Monday evening that Lockheed Martin has invested USD10 million in PV-Labs, a Canadian company specializing in advanced airborne imaging solutions, to accelerate the development and production of PV-Labs' FAST technology, standing for Fifth- generation Advanced Stabilization Turret. Civitanavi Systems holds a 30 percent stake in PV-Labs purchased last year, with an option to purchase the remaining 70 percent within five years.

At the back of the pack-among the many bearish performers-is Bestbe Holding, still down and down 20 percent.

Among SMEs, SYS-DAT rose 7.4 percent on its debut on the STAR after a EUR33.6 million IPO, excluding the potential exercise of the over-allotment option.

If the over-allotment option is fully exercised, the total amount raised will be EUR36.9 million. The free float at the time of admission is 35.1 percent and the market capitalization at IPO is EUR103 million or EUR106.4 million assuming full exercise of the over-allotment option.

SYS-DAT is a leading Italian operator specializing in the Information and Communication Technology sector. The company is highly innovative and offers highly innovative, comprehensive and integrated IT solutions to its customers throughout Italy and abroad and for different market sectors.

Espe - in the red by 3.7 percent - made it known that it has proceeded with the notarized deed of contribution inherent to the business unit related to Operation & Maintenance in favor of Reflow, a company active in the O&M market, mainly in the wind power plant sector based in Carmignano di Brenta in Padua, consequently assuming legal control.

Facilities gave up 3.9 percent to EUR0.3440 per share, in its second bearish session in a row.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 1.3%, the Hang Seng gained 1.0% and the Shanghai Composite gave up 0.5%.

In New York, the Dow closed up 0.4 percent to 39,331.85, the S&P gained 0.6 percent to 5,509.01 and the Nasdaq rose 0.8 percent to 18,028.76.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0738 from USD1.0737 on Tuesday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2681 from USD1.2676 on Tuesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD86.68 per barrel from USD86.92 per barrel at yesterday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,334.77 an ounce from USD2,324.49 on Tuesday evening.

Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar includes the composite and services PMI from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the Eurozone and the UK, due between 0915 CEST and 1030 CEST.

Space also for the French government budget, at 0845 CEST, and the eurozone producer price index, due at 1100 CEST.

From the US, where markets will close at 1300 local for the Independence Day holiday, mortgage data will arrive at 1300 CEST while jobless claims will be released at 1430 CEST. Composite and services PMIs will arrive at 1545 CEST.

Minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting will close the day at 2000 CEST.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, no particular events are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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