(Alliance News) - On Wednesday, major European stock markets confirm expectations and open in positive territory on an eventful day from a macroeconomic perspective as PMI data on services for major Eurozone economies are expected.

Thus, the FTSE Mib opens in the green by 0.7 percent to 33,698.46 the Mid-Cap is up 0.6 percent to 47,138.42, the Small-Cap is in the green by 0.3 percent to 28,874.98 while Italy Growth is up 0.1 percent to 8,094.78.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the green by 0.6 percent, London's FTSE100 is up 0.5 percent, as is Frankfurt's DAX 40.

In macroeconomic news, from Asia, China's services economy continued to expand through the end of the second quarter of 2024, supported by rising new business and exports, according to S&P Global's Purchasing Managers' Index readings released Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted Caixin China services activity index registered 51.2 in June, down from 54.0 in May. According to FXStreet, the PMI figure was expected to cool to just 53.4 points.

In Japan, the services sector stalled in June, marking the end of 21 months of continuous expansion.

Au Jibun Bank's Japanese services PMI registered 49.4 in June, down sharply from 53.8 in May. According to FXStreet, markets had expected the reading to slow to 49.4.

This marked the end of a 21-month sequence of continuous expansion.

Back in Milan, on the Mib, all the listings are in the green except for Saipem, which is in the red by 0.1 percent.

Doing best of all is the banking sector, which opens with Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena up 3.0%, followed by BPER Banca, up 2.3%.

Also going up are STMincroelectronics and Ferrari, both up 2.2%.

Stellantis rises 0.2% after jointly announcing with Archer Aviation 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.

The European Investment Bank and Snam - in the green by 0.5 percent - on Tuesday signed a loan totaling EUR100 million aimed at supporting energy upgrades of public buildings and energy efficiency measures for industrial activities.

It is a framework loan that can be used in several tranches within a 3-year period. Each tranche will have a maximum total term of 15 years.

On the cadet segment, Sanlorenzo rises 1.2 percent. The company and its subsidiary Bluegame Srl, as a participating party, have signed a Development Agreement with the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Invitalia and the Tuscany Region for a total of EUR91.5 million that provides for the

implementation of an ambitious industrial investment program.

Maire Tecnimont rises 0.9 percent after it reported Tuesday that NextChem won new contracts worth a total of about EUR30 million from major international clients, mainly in the Middle East and Europe.

Among smallcaps, Edison Rsp-which shares only is down 1.0%-announced that it will build seven new 45 MW photovoltaic plants in Piedmont. The plants are located in the provinces of Turin and Alessandria, and are in addition to Edison's two existing plants in the area.

Altogether, the nine plants have a producibility of 70 GWh per year, equal to the energy needs of 26 thousand households and useful to avoid the emission of more than 30 thousand tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Compagnia Immobiliare Azionaria -- not yet affected by trading -- on Tuesday reported that the deed of merger by incorporation of CIA into Compagnie Foncière Du Vin was signed, the plan for which had been approved by the respective shareholders' meetings last April.

Among SMEs, SG Co climbs 1.5 percent after it reported on Wednesday that it had reported an order backlog as of June 30 of EUR26.2 million, up about 33 percent from the same period 2023 of EUR19.8 million.

The order backlog value of the group's contracted orders as of the first half of the year is also equivalent to89% of the group's consolidated sales as of Dec. 31, 2023, or EUR29.5 million.

Officina Stellare - in the green by 2.8 percent - announced Wednesday that it has been awarded a new contract with the European Space Agency to build a complete optical ground station for Lasercom applications for the European Space Operations Center ESOC in Darmstadt, Germany.

The 24-month contract has a total value of about EUR3.5 million and is part of the ESA GSTP General Support Technology Program, which supports research and development of highly innovative technologies.

CleanBnB gives up 0.3 percent after it announced Tuesday that its board of directors reviewed some management data for the first half of the year, during which gross bookings exceeded EUR21.4 million, up 27 percent from EUR16.8 million collected in the first half of 2023.

During the period, CleanBnB handled a total of 55,329 stays, up 35 percent to 41,025 in H1 2023.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 1.3 percent, the Hang Seng gained 1.2 percent, and the Shanghai Composite gave up 0.5 percent.

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 USD1.0758 from USD1.0737 on Tuesday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2698 from USD1.2676 on Tuesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD86.67 per barrel from USD86.92 per barrel at yesterday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,348.80 an ounce from USD2,324.49 on Tuesday evening.

Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar features the euro area producer price index 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 companies in the Piazza Affari, no special events are expected.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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