(Alliance News) - On Friday, major European marketplaces are expected to open higher according to IG futures, following yesterday's positive session, with only the Mib falling slightly, despite a good session in the luxury sector, the CAC 40 closing at new highs, while the DAX and FTSE100 posted some modest gains.

"Another sharp drop in U.S. inflation, this time in March's headline PPI and core prices, is fueling optimism about the CPI in the coming months, which would bring us closer to possible rate cuts later this year," commented Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK.

"This could well happen but with the U.S. labor market still holding up reasonably well, it is hard to imagine the Federal Reserve being in a hurry to cut rates. However, this optimism helped push U.S. equity markets higher on the day, led by the Nasdaq 100, while the S&P500 posted its best close in two months," the analyst concluded.

Thus, futures give the FTSE Mib in the green by 0.3 percent or up 90.2 points after closing just below par at 27,626.61.

Paris' CAC 40 is expected to be in the green by 15.8 points or 0.2 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is given up 39.0 points or 0.2 percent, while London's FTSE 100 is expected up 13.5 points or 0.2 percent.

On Thursday evening, among Italy's smaller listings, the Mid-Cap closed in the green 0.8 percent to 44,052.55, the Small-Cap rose 0.2 percent to 29,928.34, while Italy Growth finished in the red 0.3 percent to 9,391.07.

On the main list of Piazza Affari, Enel gave up 3.9 percent with price at EUR5.75. As Francesco Bonazzi writes in Alliance News, "Enel is the only one flunked in Piazza Affari on the day after the public appointments. The market did not like the apparent tug-of-war between the parties over the leadership of the electricity giant and fears that the tandem formed by Flavio Cattaneo and Paolo Scaroni will fail to reduce debt and manage the green transition."

FinecoBank, meanwhile, gave up 1.7 percent to EUR14.16 per share. A net short position hangs over the stock from Marshall Wace, which recently brought it down to 0.71 percent from 0.68 percent previously.

Banca Generali, on the other hand, lost 1.7 percent, subject to profit taking after three sessions of good gains.

Among the bullish performers was Moncler, up 4.5% to EUR65.78, a new 52-week high.

Purchases were also made on Leonardo, which rose 3.2% to take its assets since the start of the year over 45%. The defense giant replaced Alessandro Profumo with Roberto Cingolani in the CEO position, while Stefano Pontecorvo will be the new chairman.

On the cadet segment, strength on Maire Tecnimont's stock, advanced 3.2 percent following up on the gain -- albeit with 0.4 percent -- of the previous session. The company announced Wednesday that its subsidiary NextChem Holding has finalized the acquisition of an 83.5 percent stake in Conser, a Rome-based proprietary technology and process engineering company.

The consideration for the transaction is approximately EUR35.8 million, of which EUR28.4 million was paid today and EUR7.4 million deferred and subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions. The acquisition agreement also includes an earn-out clause based on the achievement of specific operating results for the years 2023 and 2024 and a put and call option structure on the remaining 16.5 percent stake to be exercised within the next three years.

Seco, on the other hand, gave up 2.4 percent, on the heels of the eve's red with 2.9 percent and brought the price down to EUR4.88.

MARR, on the other hand, lost 1.0 percent to EUR13.54, following Wednesday's 1.0 percent gain at the close.

On the Small-Cap, Bastogi positioned itself in the high quarters by rising 2.7 percent and bringing the price to EUR0.6120 after a 1.3 percent loss on the eve. The company on Wednesday approved its results as of December 31, 2022 reporting a net profit of EUR28.2 million, up from a loss of EUR2.4 million in the previous year. The board of directors also decided to propose the distribution of a dividend of EUR0.009 per outstanding share, excluding treasury shares, using distributable reserves.

Italian Sea Group, on the other hand, rallied 5.1 percent, bringing its price to EUR8.59 and rearing its head again after three sessions ended among the bearish.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale, on the other hand, gave up 4.5 percent, following the 2.3 percent decline with which it closed Wednesday evening.

Equita, on the other hand, closed down 3.5 percent at EUR3.92. There was an unusual as well as high trading volume on the stock, over 146,000 compared to a three-month daily average of just under 39,000.

Among SMEs, in the high quarters stood expert.ai, which takes home over 10 percent with new price at EUR0.8290.

Fenix Entertainment, on the other hand, rose more than 11 percent, closing on the bullish side for the sixth time and taking the scepter of best on the list.

CleanBnB--up 1.4 percent--reported Wednesday evening that in the first three months of the year it recorded further consolidation of its property portfolio, which reached 1,805 units, distributed in more than 70 Italian locations and managed exclusively, for the most part with the "FULL package" formula of full management. This operating result was also reflected in gross booking volume, i.e., receipts from guests for managed stays, reaching nearly EUR5.0 million, more than 67 percent higher than in the first quarter of 2022.

On a negative note, Allcore gave up 3.3 percent, bringing its price to EUR2.35 on the heels of eve's red with 2.4 percent.

Rear-ends also for First Capital, backtracked with 4.9% with price at EUR19.60.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the green 1.2% to 28,489.66 and the Hang Seng is up 0.2% to 20,387.91 while the Shanghai Composite is up 0.6% to 3,338.74

In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones closed in the green 1.1 percent to 34,029.69, the S&P lost 1.3 percent to 4,146.22, while the Nasdaq finished up 2.0 percent to 12,166.27.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.1068 versus USD1.1026 at Thursday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2539 from USD1.2521 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD86.44 per barrel versus USD87.31 per barrel on Thursday evening. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,043.39 an ounce from USD2,028.01 an ounce at Thursday's close.

On Friday's economic calendar, at 0845 CET, France's inflation is expected.

At 1430 CET, from the US, eyes on retail sales, at 1515 CET, industrial production. At 1900 CET, the Baker Hughes report will be released, and at 2230 CET, as usual on Friday, it will be the turn of the COT report.

Among the companies in the Italian stock market, the results of Bioera, Indel B, Svas Biosana, LU-VE, and Vimi Fasteners are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to redazione@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2023 Alliance News IS Italian Service Ltd. All rights reserved