MIB reconnects with 52,200, repricing for an ECB hike

(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari extends its advance, with the MIB up in the 52,200-point area, snapping the corrective phase of the previous two sessions. Milan's positive performance reflects a tactical improvement in sentiment, supported by oil stabilizing, albeit in a backdrop still shaped by geopolitical risks from the Middle East and a monetary policy stance set to remain cautious.

The rebound in Italian equities, in fact, is benefiting mainly from easing pressure on the energy sector, after the recent acceleration in oil prices had fueled inflation fears and concerns about a possible negative impact on global growth.

On the monetary front, the market is gradually factoring in a more restrictive scenario from the major central banks. Expectations point to a possible rate hike by the Bank of England by year-end, while investors have increased positioning for further tightening by the European Central Bank, with more than 30 basis points of hikes priced in over the course of the year.

As a result, the MIB is up 0.6% at 52,217.84 points.

In Europe, the DAX 40 is up 0.1%, the CAC 40 rises 0.2%, while the FTSE 100 gives up 0.8%.

In Milan, the Mid-Cap is up 0.1% at 61,852.95, the Small-Cap advances 0.6% at 36,875.20 and the Italia Growth is up 0.1% at 9,114.22.

On Piazza Affari, among the minority of decliners is Leonardo, down 2.7% and on track for its third session to close with a bearish candle.

Avio, meanwhile, slips 3.0%, at the bottom of the index and putting the price in the €31.63 per-share area. The company said Wednesday that the board approved a capital increase reserved for Vantage HYP Sàrl, a company attributable to Advent International, equal to about 7% of the pre-existing share capital, for a maximum amount of €109.4m, thus executing the mandate granted by the extraordinary shareholders' meeting of October 23.

Strength in STMicroelectronics remains at the top of the index, up 4.0% at €60.77 per share, following the prior session's 0.2% gain.

Near the top is also Prysmian, up 2.9%, lifting its head after three sessions ending with a bearish candle.

UniCredit gains 1.3% to €80.90 per share. The takeover bid launched in May for Commerzbank and closed Friday drew acceptances of 17.6%, helped by the rise in UniCredit shares, which reached €81.96, making the exchange of 0.485 UniCredit shares for each Commerzbank share more attractive. Adding the 26.8% already held, the bank led by Andrea Orcel rises to 44.4% of Commerzbank's capital. The stake could reach 47.6% by converting financial instruments already in the portfolio and exceed 51% if the remaining derivatives were also converted.

On the mid-tier segment, Safilo is up 3.9%, after the previous session's 3.6% loss, with the price in the €1.72 area.

LU-VE, up 2.4%, said Thursday that product revenue in the second quarter reached €170.0m, up 8.2% from the same period a year earlier. The company said it was the highest revenue level in a single quarter in the company's history.

Technoprobe advances solidly, up 1.6% after three sessions ending in a downtrend.

Mondadori, meanwhile, is up 0.2%. The company said Wednesday it inaugurated, together with Kuehne+Nagel, the new Fulfilment Centre in San Giorgio Bigarello, in the province of Mantua, which consolidates in a single facility logistics activities previously spread across multiple warehouses. The hub covers almost 40,000 square meters and employs more than 180 professionals.

Anima Holding, up 1.0%, said Wednesday it closed June with positive net inflows in asset management, excluding insurance mandates in Segment I, of €202m, while total asset management recorded outflows of €132m, hurt by the negative contribution from Segment I of €335m.

Assets under management stood at €210.4bn, up 2.4% year on year, rising to €211.9bn including administered savings.

Acea is down 0.2% at €21.64 per share. Fitch Ratings said it affirmed the company's long-term issuer default rating at 'BBB+', with the outlook kept Stable. The agency also affirmed the short-term rating at 'F2' and the long-term senior unsecured rating at 'BBB+'.

Pirelli slips 0.1% to €6.69 after a three-session decline. Notably, Citigroup revised the target price to €7.50 from €7.40.

On the Small-Cap, Industrie De Nora jumps 6.9%, lifting its head after two sessions ending in the red and putting the price in the €6.9 per-share area.

Esprinet posts a 1.3% gain, breaking a mini downtrend that lasted three sessions.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale, down 1.5%, said Wednesday it successfully completed its financial restructuring, after the disbursement of a medium- to long-term bank loan of €180m, signed May 28 with a pool of leading financial institutions. At the same time, the company fully repaid the debt covered by the restructuring agreement of November 30, 2022, as subsequently amended.

In the back of the pack, Pininfarina is down 2.2%. The stock, which has not paid a dividend since 2005, is trading in the €0.78 per-share area.

Among SMEs, Cofle rises 3.0% after the previous session was flat, priced around 2.09. The stock, on the MarketScreener platform, shows a target price of €5.50 based on the average of two analysts, thus appearing to trade at a steep discount of more than 170%.

Datrix, up 3.3% and leading the segment, said Wednesday it is collaborating between subsidiary Aramix and Pitagora, a financial intermediary specializing in salary and pension-backed loans, to integrate an artificial intelligence solution aimed at digitizing the customer onboarding process. The goal of the agreement is to reduce the time needed to extract and manage data contained in customer documentation, improving operating efficiency, speeding up checks and enhancing the quality of the overall credit-disbursement process.

Destination Italia is down 3.1% after three flat sessions and showing a 44% loss since the start of the year.

GM Leather falls 4.0%, after the previous session's 7.9% gain.

In New York last night, the Dow fell 1.1%, the S&P 500 lost 0.3%, while the Nasdaq picked up 0.2%.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 1.4%, the Shanghai Composite ended up 1.7%, while the Hang Seng closed down 0.7%.

On the currency front, the euro changes hands at $1.1430 from $1.1398 at Tuesday's European close, while sterling trades at $1.3411 from $1.3362 last night.

Among commodities, Brent trades at $77.07 a barrel from $80.10 a barrel at Tuesday's European equity close, while gold is worth $4,106.44 an ounce from $4,027.03 an ounce last night.

As for Thursday's economic calendar, from the US at 1430 CEST the report on continuing jobless claims is due, while at 1600 CEST the home sales data are expected. Finally, at 1930 CEST, a speech by the Fed's Logan is scheduled.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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