Mixed European Markets, Leonardo Leads the Gains

(Alliance News) - On Thursday, at the open, major European indices moved in mixed directions, with Milan’s Piazza Affari lacking momentum around the 45,500-point mark, while Frankfurt extended the previous day’s gains towards 25,200 points.

German manufacturing orders rose sharply in November, driven by large contracts and stronger demand for capital goods, according to data released Thursday by Destatis.

As a result, the FTSE Mib was up 0.1% at 45,592.41, the Mid-Cap was down 0.1% at 60,503.33, the Small-Cap slipped fractionally to 37,610.91, while the Italy Growth index fell 0.1% to 8,834.54.

London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2%, Paris’ CAC 40 lost 0.1%, while Frankfurt’s DAX 40 rose by 0.2%.

Back in Milan, on the main blue-chip board, Leonardo shot to the top at the open, advancing 4.0% with over 1.1 million shares already traded.

Fincantieri also performed well, up 2.3% with over 1.2 million shares changing hands.

Enel – down 0.2% – announced the successful placement of new non-convertible, perpetual hybrid subordinated bonds for a total of EUR2 billion, aimed at institutional investors in the European market.

The operation saw demand more than seven times the offer, with orders peaking at around EUR14 billion, confirming strong market reception.

STMicroelectronics advanced 0.8% to EUR24.88 per share. Notably, Barclays raised its target price to EUR21.00 from EUR20.00, maintaining an 'underweight' rating.

Assicurazioni Generali – down 0.2% – announced Wednesday it had successfully placed a EUR650 million subordinated issue, part of its EUR15.00 billion EMTN program.

During the placement, orders exceeded EUR2.6 billion, more than four times the offer, coming from a highly diversified base of about 135 international institutional investors, "confirming the strong reputation the group enjoys in the markets," the company commented.

Eni gained 0.2% to EUR15.718 per share after Jefferies raised the stock’s target price to EUR19.50 from EUR18.00, with a 'buy' recommendation.

Among the decliners, Telecom Italia dropped 1.0%, while Ferrari fell by 0.7%.

At the bottom of the main list, Stellantis slid 2.0% at the open. According to Fim-Cisl, car production dropped by nearly 25% and commercial vehicle output by about 14%. In total, 379,706 units were produced, an average decrease of 20%.

On the Mid-Cap, Danieli led the gains, up 4.3%. The Korean group Hyundai selected Danieli as a technology partner for the construction of a new "green" production plant in the USA, in the state of Louisiana.

Danieli announced Wednesday it had secured contracts worth about USD650 million, involving the supply of four production units for converting iron ore into high-quality steel slabs.

Pirelli & C performed well, though down 0.6%. Sinochem is reportedly negotiating a reduction of its stake to around 10%, becoming a passive shareholder and thus unblocking governance and US market issues, as reported by Bloomberg.

According to the daily, however, no decision has yet been made and other options remain on the table, including a possible exit by the Chinese.

Tinexta – down 0.1% – announced it has established the "T-Defence" trust to proceed with the divestment of its stake in Tinexta Defence Holding, amounting to about 85.5% of the share capital.

At the bottom of the secondary list, Salvatore Ferragamo was down 4.4%.

On the Small-Cap, Altea Green Power was the best performer at the open, up 5.8%. The company announced receipt of the final milestone payment of over EUR15 million related to the 250 MW Rondissone BESS project, following successful preparatory activities for the project's construction, already authorized by MASE and developed for Aer Soléir.

As a result, Altea Green Power’s net financial position at the end of 2025 is projected to be cash positive, significantly strengthening its financial structure and boosting its ability to support future development initiatives, as the company explained in a note.

On the other side of the list, Caleffi dropped 2.8% to EUR0.92 per share.

EPH – up 1.0% – announced Thursday that the board of directors has appointed Fabio Ramondelli as CEO, granting him broad ordinary and extraordinary management powers, and Massimo Guerra as general manager.

Olidata – up 0.1% – announced the appointment of Maurizio Nasso as new CEO, effective from January 7 until the next shareholders’ meeting.

Nasso was also appointed general manager.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale advanced 0.8% to EUR0.747 per share, after setting a new 52-week high at EUR0.75 on Wednesday.

Zucchi slipped 0.5% to EUR0.756. Yesterday, the stock set a new 52-week low at EUR0.75 per share.

Among SMEs, ATON Green Storage started strong among the most heavily traded stocks by value, rising 4.9%.

DBA Group – down 0.3% – announced Wednesday the appointment of Raffaele De Bettin as new investor relations manager, replacing Federico Piccin.

Mare Engineering Group – down 0.7% – acknowledged the outcome of Eles’ ordinary shareholders’ meeting – flat at EUR3.19 – held on January 7, in which no agenda items were approved.

Specifically, the meeting did not confirm independent director Bosco, who had been co-opted by Eles’ board of directors on September 30, resulting in his removal.

Otofarma – still with no trades – announced Thursday it has appointed Nicola Mottola as new Chief Financial Officer.

Among the laggards on the alternative list was AATech, down 4.0%. The company announced that Opyn, a group company, has launched Opyn Puls, a platform aimed at the digital transformation of Italian enterprises.

Opyn Puls is an Infrastructure as a Service solution integrating, on a single platform, private cloud infrastructures fully located in Italy; a fixed-fee economic model with no upfront investments; and end-to-end technical support provided by specialists in Italy.

In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones lost 0.9%, the Nasdaq rose 0.2%, while the S&P 500 fell 0.3%.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 1.6%, the Shanghai Composite ended 0.1% lower, while the Hang Seng lost 1.2%.

On the currency front, the euro traded at USD1.1673 from USD1.1689 at Wednesday’s European equity close, while the pound changed hands at USD1.3440 from USD1.3502 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude traded at USD60.10 per barrel from USD60.05 at Wednesday’s European equity close, while gold was worth USD4,428.17 an ounce from USD4,455.63 an ounce last night.

On Thursday’s economic calendar, at 1000 CET, the Italian unemployment rate is published.

At 1100 CET, Eurozone business and consumer confidence, as well as the unemployment rate, are due.

From the USA, at 1430 CET, jobless claims data and the trade balance are expected.

At 2230 CET, the weekly Federal Reserve balance sheet will be released.

Among Piazza Affari companies, CleanBnB results are expected.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

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