(Alliance News) - European markets are expected to rise Tuesday, according to IG futures, after a tense start to the week due to Russian events. The Old Continent's major exchanges, however, "proved reasonably resilient, ending the day mixed, although the DAX and FTSE100 fell to multi-week lows before recovering," commented Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets.

"While equity markets have struggled to make gains, there has been no sign of an obvious shift toward traditional safe-haven assets, which would indicate that investors are very concerned about what might happen next. If anything, given how events have unfolded in recent years and the challenges facing global investors, the view seems to be to worry about what will happen when and if it happens, rather than worrying about what might happen in what is becoming an increasingly fluid geopolitical situation."

Thus, the FTSE Mib is expected to rise 135.0 points or 0.5 percent after closing in the green by 0.1 percent at 27,242.91.

Paris' CAC 40 is expected to open up 55.5 points or 0.8 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected up 74.5 points or 0.5 percent while London's FTSE 100 is given up 47.0 points or 0.6 percent.

Among Italy's minor indices last night, the Mid-Cap finished 0.6 percent in the red at 41,908.22, the Small-Cap gave up 0.5 percent to 26,758.34 and the Italy Growth down 0.4 percent to 9,014.47.

On the main index in Piazza Affari, STMicroelectronics closed as the best in the green by 2.2 percent to EUR43.51 per share after the previous session's 2.4 percent red.

Good purchases were also made on ERG, which closed up 1.0%. The latter, through its subsidiary ERG Hamburg Holding, announced on Friday that it had finalized the acquisition from IBV Solar Parks - a company of the German ib vogt group - of 100 percent of Garnacha Solar, a company that owns a photovoltaic park located in the Castilla y León region of northwest Spain.

Eni, on the other hand, closed up 1.1 percent after announcing Friday that it had signed an agreement to take over Neptune Energy Group, along with its subsidiary Vår Energi.

Telecom Italia, on the other hand, gave up 3.5 percent. The stock mentions that the company announced that Elisabetta Romano has been appointed chairman of the board of Sparkle.

On the bearish-prevailing Mid-Cap, Maire Tecnimont took the top spot with 3.4 percent after it announced that its subsidiaries, part of the Integrated E&C Solutions business unit, Tecnimont and Tecnimont Arabia Limited were awarded two lump-sum turn-key EPC contracts related to the petrochemical expansion of the SATORP refinery-a JV composed of Saudi Aramco and TotalEnergies-, in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

The petrochemical plant will enable the conversion of refinery gas and naphtha, as well as ethane and natural gasoline, into higher value-added chemicals. The total value of the contracts is about USD2 billion.

Safilo Group closed down 0.5 percent. The company announced on Monday that, regarding the evaluation of a possible sale of the Longarone plant to potential third parties, negotiations are at an advanced stage with Thelios, a company active in the eyewear sector and belonging to the group.

Salcef Group, on the other hand, sold 1.5 percent, after announcing Monday that it had signed a preliminary agreement to acquire 100 percent of the share capital of Colmar Technik, which has been in business since 1963 and at its plants in Arquà Polesine and Costa di Rovigo designs and manufactures machinery for the construction and maintenance of railway lines.

Sales also prevailed on Juventus FC, among others, which ended the run down 3.2 percent - worst on the list - in the wake of last Friday's 1.4 percent red.

On the Small-Cap segment, ItwWay closed up more than 14 percent. There was a high trading volume of more than 432,000 pieces on the stock, compared to a three-month daily average of about 16,500. The company reported Monday that KT&Partners has begun coverage of the company's stock with a 'buy' recommendation. KT&Partners set the target price at EUR2.01, a potential upside of 58 percent from current market prices.

Somec -- in the red by 0.3 percent -- reported Monday that its subsidiary Bluesteel had won a new contract worth GBP10.5 million, over EUR12 million at current exchange rates, for a prestigious architectural project in central London.

Mondo TV, on the other hand, closed down 1.5 percent after announcing Friday the closing of a new licensing agreement for the Gorjuss brand with Coriex. The contract will last until December 31, 2025, and provides for the payment of a new guaranteed minimum and, if the above amount is exceeded, the payment of royalties by the licensee. On all such amounts, Mondo TV will retain its commission of 30 percent.

Among SMEs, Destination Italia did best of all with a surplus of more than 12 percent, after it reported on Monday that the group had reached the value of about EUR35 million in terms of the order book of tourism bookings in the first 5 months of the year, marking a 150 percent increase over May 31, 2022.

Ilpra, on the other hand, took home an appreciation of 3.4 percent, after giving up 1.7 percent in the previous session.

Circle -- up 1.2 percent -- announced Monday that it has been awarded, along with 21 other European partners, the eFTI4EU project with a total value of EUR28.3 million. The project for Circle is worth EUR562,500 and has a duration of 36 months.

Neosperience closed 1.9 percent in the red despite reporting Friday that it has been chosen by Sinelec, a technology company of ASTM Group, one of the World's largest highway operators, to create its C-ITS platform, dedicated to vehicle-to-everything communication, a foundational element for the development of the smart roads of the future.

Italia Independent, on the other hand, gave up 5.0 percent to EUR0.6650, after last session's 1.5 percent green. The stock had previously closed four sessions in a row in negative balance.

In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones closed fractionally in the red, the S&P gave up 0.5 percent, and the Nasdaq lost 1.2 percent.

In Asia, the Nikkei is in the red 0.6 percent to 32,506.55, the Shanghai Composite is in the green 1.4 percent to 3,193.24, and the Hang Seng is up 2.1 percent to 19,180.63.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0927 against USD1.0912 in Monday's European equities close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2739 from USD1.2719 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD74.85 per barrel versus USD73.80 per barrel at Monday's close.

"The U.S. crude barrel remains stable around the USD70 level while OPEC recently said that global oil demand will rise to 110 million barrels per day, with a 23 percent increase in overall energy demand expected by 2045," commented Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. This is in contrast to IEA forecasts that predict a short-term increase in demand but a long-term decline in oil demand due to the energy transition to greener sources. The higher the prices of traditional and dirty energy, the faster the transition will be," the analyst concluded.

Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,925.47 an ounce from USD1,926.92 an ounce on Monday evening.

On Tuesday's calendar, at 1000 CEST will come data on Italian business confidence levels, and at the same time, ECB number uon Christine Lagarde will give a speech, half an hour after Panetta and before Elderson.

At 1400 CEST, eyes on the U.S. construction premiums, while at 1400 CEST it will be Schnabel of the ECB who will give a speech.

At 1430 CEST, from the U.S., focus on durable goods orders, at 1600 CEST on U.S. consumer confidence, and in the evening, at 2230 CEST on weekly oil stocks.

On the corporate calendar from the Piazza Affari, no particular announcements are scheduled.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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