European markets mixed; focus shifts to truce prospects

(Alliance News) - On Wednesday, major European indices are expected to open mixed, with Piazza Affari seen little changed while Paris and Frankfurt are projected to start below par.

Yesterday, equity markets continued their recovery, bolstered by falling oil prices and a weakening dollar, as expectations grow for a deal between the US and Iran. The two-week truce is holding, and markets are beginning to price in a de-escalation, with any equity pullbacks viewed as buying opportunities.

The S&P 500 index has recovered all losses linked to the conflict, while the dollar index has erased its gains since the beginning of March, signaling a reduction in safe-haven demand, explains Michael Brown, analyst at Pepperstone.

Further declines in the dollar appear limited due to the greater resilience of the US economy, although potential rate hikes by the European Central Bank or the Bank of England could temporarily support the euro and sterling.

Consequently, the FTSE Mib is called up 0.1% or 20.0 points after closing Tuesday up 1.4% at 48,175.65.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is expected to open 0.1% higher, while the CAC 40 in Paris is indicated down 0.3% and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is projected to drop 0.2%.

In Milan on Tuesday evening, the Mid-Cap ended up 0.9% at 57,550.96, the Small-Cap advanced 1.6% to 34,398.60, and Italy Growth gained 0.5% to 8,695.76 points.

On Piazza Affari, Telecom Italia - up 0.4% - secured an extension until October 15 for the sale of Sparkle. Furthermore, it announced that the board of directors has appointed advisors to assist the company in reviewing the voluntary total public tender and exchange offer launched by Poste Italiane, which closed down 0.2%.

Specifically, the TIM board will be supported by Evercore and Goldman Sachs as financial advisors, while Bonelli Erede and Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici Studio Legale Associato were chosen for legal matters.

The shift follows a change in sentiment from Bank of America analysts, who upgraded Poste Italiane twice to "buy" from "underperform," setting a target price of EUR28.8, a 35% increase over previous valuations.

Stellantis, leading the basket with daily gains of 3.5% at EUR6.927, has initiated a corporate simplification with a plan to merge its subsidiary Punch Powertrain Psa E - Transmission Assembly Italy into Stellantis Europe. As it is a 100%-owned subsidiary, the merger will be carried out in simplified form, without exchange ratios.

A2A - up 0.1% at the close - announced it has finalized the purchase of the 10% stake in Duereti held by e-distribuzione, thereby reaching 100% ownership of the company. Duereti is active in electricity distribution in several municipalities in the provinces of Milan and Brescia.

Cassa Depositi e Prestiti has nominated Pasqualino Monti as the new CEO of Terna, which recorded a 0.4% decline, including his name in the list approved by the group which, through CDP Reti, holds 29.85% of the power infrastructure company's capital.

Moncler closed among the top performers, rising 3.2% to EUR54.74 per share, joined by UniCredit, which ended the session up 3.2% at EUR70.36 per share. Eni closed the list with a 2.2% loss, in tandem with Tenaris, down 1.9%.

On the Mid-Cap, the Chinese group Sinochem, through the vehicle Marco Polo International Italy, challenged the restrictions provided by the Golden Power decree on Pirelli, which fell 0.6%, arguing that such measures "prejudice the legitimate rights and interests" held as a shareholder under Italian corporate law and the company's bylaws.

The partial tender offer launched by Karel Komárek for Ferretti Group has concluded, collecting approximately 8.7% of the capital, equal to nearly 57% of the offer, bringing the total stake to 23.2%. The operation, conducted through KKCG Maritime, involved an outlay of EUR202 million to increase the stake to 29.9% from 14.5% in the luxury yachting group. Ferretti shares fell 2.1%.

Danieli & C - up 4.0% at the end of the day - signed an agreement with Marcegaglia for the construction of a steel production and flat product rolling plant in Fos-sur-Mer, France, for a total contract value of approximately EUR450 million, including options and spare parts.

Moltiply gained 4.4%, while Alerion closed the session down 4.0% at EUR23.80 per share.

On the Small-Cap, OPS eCom, with daily gains of 13%, received a request from Production Code Srl for the full conversion of a EUR60,000 credit into shares, as part of the ongoing capital strengthening.

OPS Italia - up 4.3% - announced that the board of directors has expressed a preliminary favorable opinion regarding the potential acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Energye, a Bologna-based electricity distribution company.

Banca Profilo recorded double-digit gains of 15% at EUR0.1750 per share, while Landi Renzo fell 3.6% to EUR0.804 per share.

Among SMEs, FAE Technology - which ended the session up 3.5% - announced the birth of Kayser Space, an evolution of Kayser Italia, which joined the FAE group just over three months ago. Kayser Space marks "a strategic and industrial transition that opens a new phase of development in the New Space Economy."

DBA Group, flat at EUR3.36, announced that it has launched, through its subsidiary DBA Spa, the Digitred project in collaboration with the Politecnico di Torino and the Politecnico di Milano. The objective of the initiative, funded by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, is to improve the functioning of power grids.

Circle Group announced that its subsidiary eXyond has acquired a new contract worth approximately EUR290,000 from a leading Italian intermodal logistics operator. The stock rose 0.5%.

Adventure, which recorded a 1.6% contraction, announced the resignation of three board members, Franco Grande, Maurizio Cerrano, and Gabriele Bisceglie, the latter an independent director, for personal and professional reasons unrelated to any disagreements with the company.

In New York on Tuesday evening, the Dow gained 0.7%, the Nasdaq advanced 2.0%, while the S&P 500 closed up 1.2%.

In Asia, the Nikkei is up 0.4%, the Hang Seng is advancing 0.5%, while the Shanghai Composite is up 0.2%.

On the currency front, the euro is trading at USD1.1792 from USD1.1798 on Tuesday evening, while sterling is trading at USD1.3569 from USD1.3572 last night.

Among commodities, Brent is trading at USD95.56 per barrel from USD96.35 per barrel last night, while gold is worth USD4,816.27 per ounce from USD4,801.87 per ounce yesterday evening.

Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar includes French consumer price index data at 0845 CEST, while at 1300 CEST the focus shifts to US mortgage data.

At 1430 CEST, also in the US, import-export data will be released, while at 1750 CEST in the UK, the Governor of the BoE is scheduled to speak.

On Piazza Affari, results are expected from MFE-MediaForEurope, SIT, Culti Milano, and six other companies.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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