Stock exchanges wait-and-see; Leonardo does well at Piazza Affari

(Alliance News) - European stock markets move without a single direction Wednesday, with investors expressing caution as they assess the economic outlook in light of weakening U.S. data and the surprise production cut by OPEC+.

Among the macro data, German factory orders rose 4.8 percent in February from the previous month, exceeding expectations in what is Europe's largest economy. This was the third consecutive monthly increase in German manufacturing orders , far exceeding the 0.3 percent growth expected by economists.

On the domestic front, on the other hand, Italy's services sector grew strongly in March, S&P Global reported Wednesday.

Italy's services PMI rose to 55.7 points in March from 51.6 in February, remaining above the no-change threshold of 50.0 for the third month in a row.

As a result, the FTSE Mib trades in the red by 0.2 percent at 26,967.28 with a mixed trend so far.

Among the smaller lists, the Mid-Cap is down 0.2 percent to 43,578.40, the Small-Cap is in the green 0.1 percent to 29,864.36, and Italy Growth is in the green 0.2 percent to 9,447.58.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is giving up 0.1 percent, London's FTSE 100 is up 0.1 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is just below par.

On the main list of Piazza Affari, among the bullish is Leonardo, which marks a plus 1.2% bringing the price to EUR11.18 in its third bullish session if confirmed until the close.

Ferrari is also doing well, with the Cavallino stock advancing 0.9 percent to EUR250.50, on the heels of a 0.2 percent gain on the eve of the session.

Pirelli, on the other hand, as it awaits results coming in later in the day, gives up 1.3 percent, breaking its seven-session bullish trend.

CNH Industrial -- up 0.3 percent -- reported that its subsidiary CNH Industrial Capital LLC has set the price of USD600 million bonds, with a coupon of 4.550 percent and maturity in 2028 and an issue price of 98.9 percent. The offering is expected to close on April 10, subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions.

On the Mid-Cap, Brunello Cucinelli advances well, marking a plus after two sessions ended in a bearish trend.

The buy side also prevails on Iren, which advances with 2.4 percent after two sessions in the red and assets since the beginning of the year rising to 23 percent.

Contraction for Industrie De Nora, which marks a minus 4.2% at EUR17.70 per share. Snam - up 0.7% - reported that the sale of 11.5 million ordinary azinoi of Industrie De Nora Spa to institutional investors was completed. The shares were sold at a unit price of EUR17.08, for a total consideration of EUR196 million. Initially, there were 10 million shares to be sold, but due to high investor demand, this number was increased to 11.5 million.

Saras, on the other hand, gives up 2.6 percent to EUR1.35 per share after a 1.2 percent gain on the eve of the meeting.

On the Small-Cap, Conafi advances well, posting a plus 3.0% after two bearish sessions.

Gequity, on the other hand, advances 2.7 percent, also positioning itself in the upper quarters of the segment.

Closing the list is Bioera, which retreats 7.0% to on 52-week lows at EUR0.1190.

Among SMEs, NVP advances, marking a plus 6.9% to EUR3.74 per share as it awaits quarterly results due later today.

SolidWorld Group -- up 3.0 percent -- on Tuesday announced the expansion of its shareholder base and free float with the entry of two leading institutional investors following the purchase from partner Redfish 4 Listing of 99,750 ordinary shares, representing 1.2 percent of total outstanding ordinary shares and 0.9 percent of share capital. The shares purchased by the two institutional investors correspond to 0.04% and 1.2% of SolidWorld Group's outstanding common shares to date, respectively.

Fenix Entertainment, on the other hand, gives up 5.4 percent to EUR0.28 per share, subject to profit-taking after eve's double-digit gain.

Mondo TV France, on the other hand, retreats 3.9 percent, although on a weekly basis it still posts a profit of about 7.0 percent.

In New York--on the European night--the Dow Jones closed 0.7 percent in the red, the S&P down 0.6 percent, and the Nasdaq left 0.5 percent on the sidelines.

In Asia, the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges remained closed for holidays, while the Nikkei left 1.7 percent on the parterre.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0953 versus USD1.0955 at Tuesday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2488 from USD1.2500 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD85.40 per barrel versus USD83.98 per barrel Tuesday evening. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,024.43 an ounce from USD2,021.55 an ounce at yesterday's close.

On Wednesday's economic calendar, at 0945 CET it will be the turn of Italy's services PMI. Five minutes later it will then be the turn of France's, Germany's and at 1000 CET the Eurozone's.

The same data will be released at 1030 CET for the United Kingdom. At 1100 CET, from Italy, will come the retail sales figure.

At 1300 CET, from the US, focus on the mortgage market report, at 1415 CET the ADP data and at 1430 CET the trade balance.

At 1545 CET, also from the US, will come the tertiary PMI and, at 1630 CET, oil stocks, EIA report and Cushing's inventory.

Of note, the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges will remain closed for national holidays.

Among the companies in the stock market, the results of Netweek and Pirelli are expected.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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