Futures Point to Higher Open; Traders Eye ECB Rate Cut in September

(Alliance News) - European stock markets are set for a higher open on Wednesday, according to futures markets, as investors look ahead to the ECB Forum in Sintra, Portugal, where President Christine Lagarde is scheduled to speak later today.

The ECB is widely expected to deliver another rate cut in September, following recent data showing Eurozone inflation at 2%--the central bank's target--strengthening expectations for continued monetary easing.

The FTSE Mib, which closed down 0.6% at 39,561.30 points on Tuesday, is advancing by 150.00 points in pre-market trading.

Among the smaller indices, the Mid-Cap ended down 0.6% at 53,958.16, the Small-Cap lost 0.3% to 31,800.80, and the Italy Growth index closed slightly lower at 8,194.04 points.

Elsewhere in Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is up 23.30 points, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is rising by 50.20 points, and London's FTSE 100 is advancing by 23.20 points.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, Brunello Cucinelli shares rose 3.1% to EUR105.95, ranking among the top performers after Jefferies raised its target price to EUR107 from EUR100 with a 'hold' recommendation.

Campari led the pack, closing up 3.4% at EUR5.906 after continuing its buyback program and acquiring shares worth nearly EUR2 million.

The utilities sector also performed well, with Enel and A2A rising by 2.3% and 1.6%, respectively.

Leonardo, which ended at the bottom of the leaderboard with a 5.0% drop to EUR45.39 per share, announced on Tuesday the acquisition of almost 25% of the share capital of Finland's SSH Communications Security Corporation for EUR20 million, bolstering its international cyber portfolio.

Intesa Sanpaolo--down 1%--reported on Monday that between June 23 and June 27, it purchased 36.5 million of its own shares at an average price of EUR4.7990, for a total consideration of EUR175.3 million.

Banca Mediolanum--down 2.1%--and Mediolanum Vita completed the sale of their entire stake in Mediobanca, totaling 29.1 million ordinary shares, or about 3.5% of the capital. Mediobanca shares--which also saw Aurelia sell call and put options on Mediobanca ordinary shares--fell 4.2% to EUR18.905.

Amplifon, which announced a EUR50 million loan from Banca Popolare di Sondrio--down 3.1%--slipped 0.7%. The company said on Monday it had bought back 1.2 million ordinary shares between June 23 and June 30.

The shares were purchased at an average price of EUR19.978, for a total of about EUR23.6 million. Following these purchases, the company holds a total of 4.6 million treasury shares, representing 2.0% of its share capital.

On the Mid-Cap index, Italmobiliare gained 5.2% to EUR27.35, topping the list.

Webuild rose 1.0% after signing the contract for Section T2 of Rome's Metro Line C, worth approximately EUR2.00 billion.

Juventus Football Club fell 2.1%. The company announced that majority shareholder Exor NV made a second payment for a future capital increase totaling EUR15.0 million, "under the same terms, conditions, and purposes as the payment made on March 28," as stated in the release.

MAIRE announced that its NextChem plant in Mexico will have a capacity of 2.1 million tonnes from 2029, but shares dropped 0.2% to EUR11.19.

Fincantieri posted the day's worst performance, down 5.8%. The company said it is ready to seize at least EUR20 billion in commercial opportunities in the defense sector, thanks to unprecedented growth in military investment in Europe and abroad.

Among small caps, Triboo led the gains with a jump of around 48% to EUR0.466 per share. On Monday, the company announced that subsidiary Triboo Digitale had finalized the sale of its 80% stake in ESITE to Alsendo Holdings.

The transaction amounted to EUR4.4 million, generating a capital gain of EUR1.5 million.

Safilo Group and Victoria Beckham announced the signing of a ten-year global licensing agreement for the creation, production, and distribution of Victoria Beckham-branded eyewear collections. Safilo shares rose 2.6% to EUR0.926.

Met.Extra Group closed in the red, down 9.7%.

The board of Bestbe Holding, which fell 4.3%, approved the separate and consolidated financial statements as of December 31, closing with a consolidated net loss of EUR7.2 million, an improvement from the EUR10.5 million loss in 2023.

Elica announced on Tuesday the acquisition of the remaining 0.56% of the capital of Elica Home Appliances Co - Putian - from Japan's Fuji Industrial Co, thus achieving full control of its Chinese subsidiary.

The transaction, worth about EUR2.0 million, did not help the stock recover, as it closed the day down 0.4%.

Cloudia Research topped the Italy Growth index with a surge of 11% to EUR1.70 per share.

Allcore--no trades--announced it had finalized the sale of a minority stake in Re Business, with a nominal value of EUR61,500.60, representing about 10%, to Ad Maiora.

Cyberoo--up 1.0%--reported it had bought back 15,200 ordinary shares between June 23 and June 27, at an average price of EUR1.495, for a total of EUR22,723.12.

In New York overnight, the Dow gained 0.9%, while the Nasdaq closed down 0.8% and the S&P 500 slipped 0.1%.

In Asia, the Nikkei is down 0.6%, the Shanghai Composite is off 0.1%, while the Hang Seng is up 0.7%.

In currency markets, the euro is trading at USD1.1791, up from USD1.1774 at Tuesday's close, while the pound is at USD1.3740, up from USD1.3725.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD67.16, down from USD67.21 at the previous close, while gold is at USD3,336.46 an ounce, down from USD3,354.00.

On Wednesday's economic calendar, Italian unemployment data is due at 1000 CEST.

ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos is scheduled to speak at 1000 CEST, while Eurozone unemployment figures are due at 1100 CEST.

Focus will shift to US mortgage data from 1300 CEST, followed by the national vehicle sales report at 1600 CEST.

ECB President Christine Lagarde is set to speak at 1615 CEST.

US oil, fuel, and crude production data is expected from 1630 CEST.

No major announcements are expected from the Milan Stock Exchange.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News Reporter

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