(Alliance News) - On Thursday, major European stock markets are expected to be down, on a morning punctuated by some macro data releases, such as construction data among Italy, Germany, France and the Eurozone.

Thus, IG futures give the FTSE Mib in the red by 0.2 percent or down 72.5 points, after closing down 0.5 percent at 33,682.26.

Paris' CAC 40 is expected down 0.2 percent or down 11.8 points, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected to be in the red 0.1 percent or down 25.3 points, while London's FTSE 100 is expected down 0.2 percent or down 12.5 points.

Among other listings in Milan on Wednesday, the Mid-Cap gave up 0.4 percent to 46,338.55, the Small-Cap rose 0.9 percent to 28,650.83, while Italy Growth gave up 0.5 percent to 7,942.16.

On the Mib on Wednesday, Telecom Italia took the top spot and rose 2.3 percent. Also doing well was Saipem, which was up 2.2%, dragging other oil Tenaris, which was in the green by 0.2%.

The exception is Eni, which gave up 1.2 percent. The company announced together with Snam - in the green by 0.4 percent -, as part of the 50/50 joint venture set up for the purpose, that it has started carbon dioxide injection activities in the reservoir related to Phase 1 of Ravenna CCS, the first project for the capture, transport and permanent storage of CO2 in Italy, carried out for exclusively environmental purposes to contribute to the decarbonization of industrial sectors.

Still Snam reported having successfully completed the placement of its first subordinated perpetual bond issue, with a nominal value of EUR1.0 billion.

Demand exceeded supply at the peak by more than 4 times, totaling orders of more than EUR4.5 billion.

Terna - flat at EUR7.89 per share - announced Tuesday that a share buyback program will be launched on September 4, for a maximum outlay of EUR8 million and for a total number of the company's ordinary shares not exceeding 1.6 million, representing about 0.08% of Terna's share capital.

Leonardo - in the red by 0.9 percent - announced Wednesday the activation of a partnership with GemaTEG to reduce the energy costs of next-generation chips used in Artificial Intelligence infrastructure.

On the cadet segment, Webuild -- up 0.9 percent -- announced Tuesday that it had signed a "Memorandum of Understanding" with Ansaldo Nucleare to develop potential cutting-edge, safe, sustainable and flexible modular solutions in the energy sector, with the aim of helping accelerate the transition to a low-carbon future.

The deal is part of a promising picture for the nuclear sector, for which growing investment is expected with new plants expected on a global scale aiming to provide a total of about 650GW of capacity by 2050.

Salcef Group closed flat at EUR25.75 per share after it announced Monday that director Angelo Di Paolo had resigned as a nonexecutive and nonindependent director and that Alberto Donzelli had been appointed by co-option in his place.

Among smallcaps, Sabaf rose 6.5 percent after it reported Wednesday that it closed the first half with adjusted net income of EUR10.1 million from EUR3.2 million as of June 30, 2023.

For the period, adjusted revenues were EUR143.1 million from EUR114.9 million in the first half of 2023, up about 25 percent.

Esprinet -- in the green by 0.9 percent -- announced Wednesday that V-Valley, a group company focused on the distribution of Advanced Solutions, has signed a partnership agreement with Dassault Systèmes, a science and technology company that designs cutting-edge software solutions for 3D modeling, simulation, information intelligence and collaboration.

Banco Di Desio e della Brianza gave up 0.4 percent. The company on Tuesday disclosed that it has placed a covered bond under its covered bond program for a total amount of EUR500 million with a maturity of 5 years aimed at institutional investors.

The covered bond, priced with a coupon of 3 percent and a yield equal to mid swap +62 bps, registered orders in excess of EUR850 million during the placement.

Among SMEs, TraWell Co rose 1.1 percent after it announced Monday that it had signed a letter of intent on Aug. 9 regarding a strategic acquisition of a 51 percent stake in a competitor active in the Northern European market in the same sector as the company.

Gibus--not affected by the exchanges--announced Tuesday the appointment of Nicola Patron to the role of the group's Chief Financial Officer.

Neosperience gave up 0.8 percent. The company on Tuesday announced, together with its subsidiary Value China, the launch of ChinAI Expert, a virtual consulting service, based on artificial intelligence, dedicated to companies that want to expand in the Chinese market.

Promotica-not affected by the exchanges-reported Wednesday that it has launched its first loyalty campaign in Australia with the largest independent grocery retailer, Drakes Supermarkets.

Through Nov. 12, Drakes will reward its customers' loyalty with free vacuum-sealed glass containers, bags and bottle caps from Italian company Giannini, a leading designer and manufacturer of household goods since 1951.

In Asia, the Nikkei gives up 0.9 percent to 36,710.44, the Hang Seng loses 0.6 percent to 17,352.82, and the Shanghai Composite gives up 0.2 percent to 2,779.58.

In New York on European night, the Dow closed in the green 0.1 percent to 40,974.97, the Nasdaq fell 0.3 percent to 17,084.30, and the S&P 500 closed in the red 0.2 percent to 5,520.07.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.1080 against USD1.1078 in Wednesday's European equities close while the pound was worth USD1.3151 from USD1.3159 on Wednesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD72.93 per barrel versus USD73.61 per barrel on Wednesday's European stock close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,531.40 an ounce from USD2,531.00 an ounce on Wednesday evening.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar includes, at 0930 CEST construction PMI data are released in Italy, Eurozone, Germany, France, while an hour later comes the UK one.

At 1100 CEST in the Eurozone retail sales data are published.

At 1330 CEST, U.S. job cuts are published, while at 1400 CEST, the Spanish consumer confidence index is expected in Spain.

Still in the US, at 1430 CEST, data on continuing unemployment claims and the change in nonfarm employment are released.

At 1545 CEST it is the turn of the S&P PMI Composite index and the purchasing managers' index for the services sector, while fifteen minutes later comes the ISM non-manufacturing index.

Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, the half-year results of Eurotech, Immsi, IVS Group, LU-VE, Moltiply Group and Sanlorenzo are expected.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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