(Alliance News) - Europe's major stock markets met forecasts and opened higher on Wednesday, coinciding with the release of some important macroeconomic data for the Old Continent.

Italy's services activity, for example, as S&P Global explains, nearly stabilized in December, with the services PMI rising to 49.9 in the final month of the year, close to the no-change value of 50.0, up from 49.5 in November.

In addition, for the first time since June, the December survey also recorded a return to growth in new order flow.

Thus, the FTSE Mib opens up 0.7 percent to 24,611.87.

The FTSE 100 is up 0.3 percent to 7,579.70, Paris' CAC 40 opens up 1.3 percent to 6,707.62, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is in the green 1.2 percent to 14,352.16.

On the European front, France's annual inflation rate fell to 5.9 percent in December 2022 after 6.2 percent in November and below market forecasts of 6.4 percent, according to preliminary estimates from Insee.

Further economic clues will be forthcoming in abundance this week, starting with the release of the Federal Reserve minutes and the latest JOLTS survey today, and culminating in nonfarm payroll data on Friday.

"In the meantime, the market continues to discount the likelihood of another 0.25 percent interest rate hike by the Fed in February, with a terminal rate of about 5 percent over the course of the year," commented Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, while fears remain that aggressive monetary policy could fuel a recession in the U.S. economy.

Among Italy's smaller lists, the Mid-Cap rallies 0.8 percent to 40,573.59, the Small-Cap dale 0.2 percent to 28,252.86, and Italy Growth is up 0.1 percent to 9,378.49.

On the mostly bullish main list in Piazza Affari, banks do well: Banco BPM opens up 4.2 percent, UniCredit is up 2.6 percent, and BPER Banca rises 1.9 percent.

Also among the best-performing stocks at the open are Telecom Italia, which picks up 2.7 percent, Enel and Moncler, up 2.0 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively.

In the red, however, oils, with Tenaris the tail-end at minus 5.1%. Eni gives up 1.7% and Saipem leaves 1.5% on the parterre. Leonardo, CNH Industrial and Iveco Group also hurt, giving up 2.7 percent, 0.4 percent and 0.1 percent respectively.

Also on the Mid-Cap, the color green prevails, with Juventus FC confirmed again in the high quarters and, after closing up 8.7 percent, opens up 3.8 percent Wednesday morning, leading the list.

Datalogic and OVS follow, up 3.0% and 2.1%.

Webuild picks up 1.2% after a 0.6% red on eve. On Monday, it announced that it purchased in the week of Dec. 28 and Dec. 30, 2022, inclusive, 40,500 shares of its own common stock.

The shares were taken over at an average price of EUR1.3837 per share for a total value of EUR56,040.74.

Anima Holding opens up 2.0 percent after ending up 0.4 percent. The company announced Friday that it is continuing its partnership with the Crédit Agricole Italia Group, adjusting the previous agreement linking Anima and Credito Valtellinese as necessary.

The revision, as Anima explained in a note, became appropriate following the merger of Credito Valtellinese into Crédit Agricole Italia, effective April 24, 2022.

The agreement maintained the original term to the end of 2027. CAI and Anima intend to preserve the industrial value of the partnership, related to the stability of assets under management.

Zignago Vetro - up 1.1 percent - announced Tuesday that it has lost its Small and Medium Enterprise status as the transitional regime that changed the definition of SME, eliminating the reference to the turnover parameter, has come to an end.

On the Small-Cap, Trevi Finanziaria Industriale opens up 0.2 percent after closing down 0.8 percent. The company announced Monday that the period for the exercise of option rights relating to the offer to shareholders of up to 79.1 million ordinary shares for a maximum total amount of EUR25.1 million has ended.

During the offering period as a result of the exercise of 110.6 million option rights, 58.0 million shares in the offering were subscribed for a total consideration of EUR18.4 million.

At the top is Netweek, up 4.2 percent, followed by BasicNet, in the green by 2.5 percent. BasicNet reported Friday that it bought back 16,500 of its own ordinary shares between December 27 and 30.

The shares were taken over at an average price per unit of EUR5.4810, for a total value of EUR90,440.50.

As of today, the company holds 3.9 million treasury shares, accounting for 7.2 percent of its share capital.

Civitanavi Systems opens in the green by 1.2 percent. The company announced that it has signed a ruling agreement with the Internal Revenue Service that will allow the company to have access to the Patent Box tax benefit for intellectual property for patents and know-how.

The tax benefit for the five-year period 2017-2021 will be accounted for in the 2022 financial statements, and quantification will take place when the financial statements are prepared.

Among SMEs, Imvest opens with a theoretical rise of 15 percent. Casasold, up 2.9 percent, and Telesia, which picks up 4.3 percent, also do well.

Circle begins the day up 0.5 percent. It announced Monday that it has signed a new contract through the Log@Sea business network to supply advanced Gate Automation solutions to a leading Tyrrhenian multipurpose terminal.

"The order, the value of which exceeds EUR145,000, involves the implementation of a complete project of specialized hardware components and Milos software for the management of gate access control procedures for vehicles and Intermodal Transport Units. The topical moment and market confidence in the solutions behind our Connect 4 Agile Growth plan are confirmed," explained President and CEO, Luca Abatello.

Erfo Pharmaceutical Laboratory opens up 0.6 percent. The company reported Monday that Active Capital Investment, linked to the chairman of the board, bought 16,000 shares of common stock.

The shares were taken over at an average unit price of EUR1.871, for a total value of EUR29,936.00.

In Asia, the Nikkei 225 lost 1.5 percent to 25,716.86, the Hang Seng closed up 3.2 percent to 20,793.11 and the Shanghai Composite finished in the green by 0.2 percent to 3,123.37.

In New York on European night, the Dow closed fractionally in the red at 33,136.37, the Nasdaq gave up 0.8 percent to 10,386.98 and the S&P 500 fell 0.4 percent to 3,824.14.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0616 versus USD1.0545 at Tuesday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2055 from USD1.1964 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD80.65 a barrel from USD82.73 a barrel last night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,860.07 an ounce from USD1,836.55 an ounce Tuesday night.

On Wednesday's economic calendar, in the UK, at 1030 CET, the BoE will release consumer credit, M4 money supply and mortgage data.

Overseas, at 1300 CET, from the US, will come data on 30-year mortgages and mortgage applications.

In the afternoon, at 1600 CET, it will be the turn of the ISM manufacturing employment index, sector prices, manufacturing purchasing managers' data and new jobs JOLTs for November.

Among companies listed on the Stock Exchange, no particular announcements are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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