(Alliance News) – European stock markets – confirming the futures market – headed for a bearish open on Friday, with selling driving the Milan stock market into the 34,100 area, as US economic data more stronger than expected sparked fears that the Federal Reserve might once again delay an interest rate cut.
Stronger-than-expected inflation data in the UK has also clouded the Bank of England’s monetary policy outlook, while the European Central Bank still appears on track to start cutting interest rates in June.
Danske Bank no longer expects the European Central Bank to cut interest rates in September, citing stable inflation and a strong start to 2024 for the euro zone economy.
Frankfurt officials – for the Danish bank – will cut borrowing costs in June, as is generally expected, and again in December, analysts led by Piet Christiansen estimate in a note. Recent data indicates that the ECB could wait before embarking on a series of reductions, they stressed from Copenhagen in the focus on the ECB.
Thus, the FTSE Mib drops 0.8 percent to 34,183.80.
The Mid-Cap marks minus 0.4 percent at 47,495.56, the Small-Cap leaves 0.6 percent at 28,841.22, and the Italy Growth marks a fraction of red at 8,234.29.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 in London is down 0.7%, the DAX 40 in Frankfurt is down 0.8% and the CAC 40 in Paris is down 0.5%.
On the Mib, the only upward performance is that of Iveco, which appreciated by 0.3% after seven sessions of decline.
Banca Popolare di Sondrio, on the other hand, fell 2.4 percent after the previous session’s 0.6 percent green.
Banca Monte dei Paschi and BPER Banca were also at the bottom of the pack, down 2.2% and 1.8% respectively. It is worth mentioning that for Rocca Salimbeni – which has been missing the ex-dividend date since 2011 – year-to-date assets exceed 62%.
Eni – up 1.0% – announced on Thursday that the first tranche of a new share buyback program will be launched in the coming days. In detail, the first tranche will concern a maximum of 6.4 million shares and a maximum expenditure of 150 million euros.
On the MidCap, among the bullish minority, Moltiply Group is up 1.3%, after the green 0.8% of the previous session.
Maire Tecnimont, for his part, increased by 1.3%. The company announced on Thursday that a consortium composed of its subsidiary Tecnimont – Integrated E&C Solutions and Baker Hughes has won a contract from Sonatrach for the construction of three compressor stations, as well as for the improvement of the gas collection system , in the Hassi R’mel gas field, located 550 kilometers south of Algiers. The total contract value is approximately USD 2.3 billion, including USD 1.7 billion for Tecnimont.
At the bottom of the pack, Pharmanutra was down 1.7% at EUR 49.25 per share, after two sessions in the green.
At the back of the pack, OVS closed lower, with the clothing company losing 2.2% to EUR2.63 per share. As Teleborsa’s analysis writes, “the short-term trend of OVS strengthens with a resistance zone at 2.71 EUR, while the most immediate support is seen at 2.666 EUR. A continuation of the rise around EUR2,754 is expected.
On SmallCap, the strength of Beewize, which appreciated by 5.8 percent, resurfaced after two sessions closed with a bullish candle.
Eems, on the other hand, is advancing by 5.0%, with the price at EUR 0.3139 and the market capitalization up almost 50% over seven days.
Landi Renzo, on the other hand, was down 4.6%, tracking the 1.5% drop on the eve of trading, while awaiting accounts due later in the day. The stock – which has missed the ex-dividend date since 2011 – has a fair value of EUR 0.46 on the MarketScreener platform based on the average of three analysts, thus being undervalued by around 37%.
Among SMEs, Compagnia dei Caraibi fell 6.3%, with a new price of 1.30 EUR per share. It’s worth noting that the stock has more than doubled its market cap over the past month, up over 114%.
Allcore, meanwhile, fell 3.9% as traders awaited the release of its accounts on Tuesday.
Culti Milano did well, with an increase of 2.6%. The stock – which detached its dividend a month ago – was down 12% over the week.
In New York last night, the Dow fell 1.5%, the Nasdaq fell 0.4% and the S&P 500 fell 0.7%.
In Asian markets, the Nikkei fell 1.2%, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.4% and the Hang Seng fell 1.5%.
Among currencies, the euro traded at $1.0823 from $1.0826 on Thursday as European stock markets closed, while the pound was trading at $1.2700 from $1.2713 last night.
Among commodities, Brent crude oil traded at USD 81.12 per barrel compared to USD 81.78 per barrel on Thursday. Gold, meanwhile, is trading at USD 2,338.50 per ounce compared to USD 2,344.25 per ounce on Thursday evening.
Friday’s macroeconomic calendar includes the start of the Eurogroup meeting at 1200 CEST.
In the afternoon, durable goods data will arrive from the United States.
Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, the results of IIG, Landi Renzo and Mevim are expected.
By Maurizio Carta, journalist at Alliance News
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