(Alliance News) - On Monday, major European stock markets are expected to be in negative territory on an uneventful morning in the macroeconomic and corporate fronts.

Thus, IG futures give the FTSE Mib in the red by 0.4 percent or down 122.5 points, after closing up 0.2 percent at 34,580.52.

Paris' CAC 40 is expected down 0.9 percent or down 67.2 points, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is given in the red 0.4 percent or up 72.9 points, and London's FTSE 100 is expected down 0.4 percent or up 28.9 points.

In macroeconomic news, China's economy expanded by an annual 4.7 percent in the second quarter of 2024, missing market forecasts of 5.1 percent and slowing from 5.3 percent growth in the first quarter, according to data shown Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics of China.

It was the weakest annual increase since Q1 2023, due to the persistent downturn in the real estate sector, weak domestic demand, the falling yuan and trade frictions with the West.

Also in China, retail sales in China rose 2 percent year-on-year in June, below market forecasts of 3.3 percent and slowing sharply from 3.7 percent in the previous month.

Finally, China's industrial production increased 5.3% year-on-year in June, beating market expectations of 5.0% but easing from the previous month's 5.6% growth.

The latest reading marked the second consecutive month of moderation in industrial production, with growth hitting its lowest since March, mainly due to a slowdown in manufacturing activity to 5.5 percent from 6.0 percent in May, while the economic recovery remains fragile.

Returning to Milan's smaller listings on Friday, the Mid-Cap is up 1.0% to 48,938.68, the Small-Cap gave up 0.1% to 29,247.25, while Italy Growth rose 0.3% to 8,122.42.

On the Mib, strength on Iveco Group, which brought home a 2.4 percent gain, chalking up its fifth bullish session.

Monlcer, meanwhile, closed ahead 2.0% at EUR58.28 per share. Of note, JPMorgan cut its target price to EUR65.00 from the previous EUR77.80.

JPMorgan itself also cut Inwit's target price to EUR14.30 from EUR14.50 per share. The stock closed in the green by 1.2 percent with final price at EUR10.26 per share.

Brunello Cucinelli - up 0.5 percent - reported Thursday that it closed the first half of the year with revenues up 14 percent year-on-year to EUR620.7 million from EUR543.9 million in the same period a year earlier.

Banca Popolare di Sondrio -- down 0.6 percent -- reported Thursday that it had early repaid a EUR200.0 million bond maturing in 2029. The bank has repurchased EUR108.7 million of the bonds and the outstanding amount of the bond is EUR91.3 million. These bonds will be redeemed at par, along with any interest accrued on them until the early redemption date.

On the Mid-Cap, strength on BFF Bank, which closed up more than 11 percent to EUR10.30 per share, rearing its head again after three bearish candles. On Thursday, the company the bank responded to the Bank of Italy regarding findings on credit classification, governance part and corporate practices regarding remuneration. In addition, the bank confirmed the guidance to 2026.

Mondadori Editore advanced 4.5 percent, on the heels of the 1.7 percent green on the viglia and priced at EUR2.58, the new 52-week high.

Force up also SOL, which closed up 4.5 percent at EUR36.85, updating the 52-week high at that price.

Among the negative notes, profit-taking on MFE's A and B shares, after good gains in recent sessions, giving up 3.3 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively.

On the Small-Cap, Safilo advanced well, closing 2.8 percent higher at EUR1.11 per share. The company-which regularly continues with its buyback plan-came to the bell for the third session in a row with a bullish candle.

FILA advanced 2.6 percent to EUR8.69 per share, also on its third session with a bullish candle.

Seri Industrial -- in the green by 0.7 percent -- on Friday disclosed that it had finalized the acquisition of a 98 percent stake in Industria Italiana Autobus Spa, a manufacturer of Menarinibus-branded public road transport vehicles.

Among the many bearers, Softlab gave up 2.4 percent. The stock-which has been missing the ex-dividend since 2003-after a flat session on the eve of the trading placed the price at EUR1.23.

Among SMEs, iVision Tech advanced 8.8 percent to EUR1.73, on its third session with a bullish candle.

Ecosuntek, on the other hand, rallied 5.6 percent to EUR15.10 per share, in the green after two sessions among the bearish.

Casta Diva, on the other hand, closed up 5.9 percent, on its third bullish session.

Pasquarelli Auto - down 0.9% - reported that it signed an agreement with the Defense General Staff on July 11 inside the "Palazzo Esercito" in Rome for the supply of cars and mobility services to military and civilian defense personnel.

In Asia, the Shanghai Composite gave up 0.1 percent to 2,968.95 and the Hang Seng lost 1.4 percent to 18,044.10, while the Nikkei was closed for Navy Day.

In New York, at Friday's close, the Dow rallied 0.6 percent to 40,000.90, as did the Nasdaq to 18,398.45 and the S&P 500 to 5,615.35.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0894 from Friday's USD1.0906 in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2974 against USD1.2987 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD85.02 per barrel from USD85.56 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,411.35 an ounce from USD2,410.33 an ounce Friday evening.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar includes Germany's industrial production data at 1100 CEST.

Event of the day, on the other hand, is the speech by the Federal Reserve's number one, Jerome Powell, at 1800 CEST, followed at 2235 CEST by that of another FOMC mebro, Mary Daly.

On the Piazza Affari corporate calendar, Casta Diva Group will release its half-year results.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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