(Alliance News) - On Friday, European stock markets close the week down after renewed tension in the afternoon that--including in Piazza Affari--sank banking stocks causing equity markets to reverse.

"Hopes that the banking crisis would continue to fade have in turn weakened as stocks fell again, reversing much of yesterday's rise," says Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG. "Credit Suisse continues to be a bogeyman for Europe as the week has been marked by a liquidity crisis and it appears that moves by authorities to remedy the situation have not entirely reassured wary investors."

"Risk appetite had recovered on hopes that central banks might ease the accelerator pedal around rate hikes, but it appears that the post-EBRD consensus is collapsing. Markets would prefer central banks to pause for now in order to let the chaos subside. Next week's Fed meeting will be a key test for this," the analyst concluded.

Thus, for the FTSE Mib, it closed 1.6 percent in the red at 25,494.54.

Among the smaller listings, the Mid-Cap gave up 1.9 percent to 41,559.58, the Small-Cap finished 0.1 percent in the red to 29,498.23, and Italy Growth lost 0.2 percent to 9,195.26.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 finished 1.0 percent in the red, Paris' CAC 40 down 1.5 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 was 1.4 percent in the red.

On the Mib, only Saipem -- up 1.7 percent --, STMicroelectronics, up 0.4 percent, and A2A, in fractional green after sharing its 2022-related accounts, with revenue up to EUR23.17 billion, double the previous year's EUR11.55 billion. Ebitda and Ebit were also up, while the board confirmed the dividend, with a coupon of EUR0.0904 per share.

In addition, A2A announced Thursday that a non-binding offer has been formalized by the company to enter the share capital of EGEA Ente Gestione e Ambiente with an absolute majority stake of 50.1 percent through a capital increase transaction.

The indicative enterprise value range currently envisaged for 100% of the assets is between EUR560 million and EUR605 million, to be possibly confirmed with a binding offer by May 15, in case of a positive outcome of the due diligence to be launched in the coming days.

Eni - trading at EUR12.16 - announced on Friday a new discovery in the Upper Miocene sequences of the exploration prospect called Yatzil, located in the mid-depth waters of Block 7 in the Sureste Basin in offshore Mexico.

According to preliminary estimates, the find may contain about 200 million barrels of oil equivalent in place.

Banks continue to suffer with FinecoBank in the red by 4.1%, UniCredit, BPER Banca, Banca Mediolanum, and Banca Generali all down between 3.6% and 2.8%.

Also hurting were Telecom Italia, Italgas, and Leonardo, which closed 4.1 percent, 3.5 percent, and 2.9 percent in the red. The worst is Iveco Group, which ends the day with minus 4.3%.

On the Mid-Cap, Rai Way - in the red by 0.2% - reported Thursday that as of December 31, 2022, core revenues were EUR245.4 million, up 6.7% from EUR229.9 million in fiscal 2021, partly due to indexing to inflation.

Revenues attributable to RAI, at EUR210.5 million, benefit from the increase related to refarming activities - effective from the second half of 2021 - as well as a one-time contribution of EUR2.0 million. Revenues from third-party customers stood at EUR34.9 million, up 14 percent thanks to the contribution of new regional digital terrestrial networks.

Webuild remained on top with 7.4 percent, following the return to the government's table of the bridge over the Strait of Messina and following Thursday's approval of its consolidated financial statements and draft operating budget to Dec. 31, 2022. The company reported an adjusted net profit of EUR118.0 million, improving from a loss of EUR56 million in 2021. The board also decided to propose a unit dividend of EUR0.057.

In addition, the strategic directions for the next three years, Webuild explains, will enable the group to achieve revenues between EUR10.5-11.0 billion in 2025, Ebitda between EUR990 million and EUR1.05 billion, and a solid financial structure with net cash position.

The worst stock is El.En., which ends 8.8 percent in the red after approving its consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022, which closed with a consolidated net income of EUR55.1 million compared to EUR45.4 million in 2021. The board proposed the distribution of a dividend of EUR0.22 per share.

On the Small-Cap, Newlat Food closed up 5.6 percent after approving on Friday its draft financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, having reported record consolidated revenues of EUR741.1 million in the period, an improvement of more than 18 percent from EUR625.2 million in the same period last year.

Consolidated revenues as of February 28, 2023 are EUR126.7 million, up 23 percent from the previous year.

Better does only Mondo TV, up 9.1 percent.

The board of directors of Centrale del Latte del'Italia--which closes in the red by 3.3 percent--on Friday approved the financial statements for fiscal year 2022, which closed with an operating profit of EUR154,000 from EUR2.3 million in the previous year.

Revenues were EUR309 million from EUR283.4 million in the previous year.

Bioera advances 1.1 percent after announcing Thursday that the auction of unopted rights related to the company's capital increase has ended.

310,150 rights were sold to subscribe for 4.7 million new ordinary shares of Bioera, representing 9.7 percent of the company's 48.2 million shares, for a total amount of EUR9.6 million.

Among SMEs, Matica Fintec -- in the red by 1.2 percent -- reported Friday that it ended 2022 with growing revenues and profits and a cash position that was unaffected by the acquisitions of two companies from Japan's AI Holdings Corp and U.S.-based UBIQ.

Revenues stood at EUR19.5 million. Considering Matica Fintec standalone, revenues stood at EUR17.5 million, benefiting from solid organic growth of just over 20 percent from EUR14.5 million as of Dec. 31, 2021.

BetterThis picks up 0.9 percent after reporting that its board has resolved to establish the Finance Committee, with the aim of strengthening the oversight of the group Finance function as well as the integration of ESG criteria into business strategies.

At the top is Finanza.tech, up 10 percent, followed by Deodato.Gallery, up 9.5 percent.

In New York, at the height of Friday's trading, the Dow gives up 1.1 percent, the Nasdaq retreats with 0.7 percent while the S&P 500 is down 1.0 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0667 versus USD1.0620 at Thursday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2169 from USD1.2113 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD73.50 per barrel versus USD74.34 per barrel on Thursday evening. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,959.47 an ounce from USD1,924.25 an ounce at Thursday's close.

On Monday's economic calendar, at 0050 CET, the People's Bank of China's preferred interest rate will be announced.

At 0800 CET, the German producer price index will be released in Germany while the EU trade balance for January is expected at 1100 CET.

In the afternoon, French BTF auctions are scheduled at 1500 CET and US Treasury bond auctions at 1630 CET.

In Piazza Affari, results from Mondo TV Suisse, Portobello, SOFTEC and Tecma Solutions are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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