(Alliance News) - On Wednesday, major European stock markets close in positive territory with Milan doing best of all driven by the banking sector.

Thus, the FTSE Mib closes up 0.7 percent to 27,891.43, Mid-Cap up 0.5 percent to 44,133.90, Small-Cap gains 0.3 percent to 30,057.09, while Italy Growth loses 0.2 percent to 9,316.44.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is in the green by 0.4 percent, Paris' CAC 40 gains 0.5 percent, as does Frankfurt's DAX 40.

"Earlier in the day, better-than-expected Chinese GDP and consumer spending data helped fuel the rally in European luxury names. Investors also scrutinized U.S. results, with Goldman Sachs and Bank of American producing mixed results and coming after excellent ones from JP Morgan, Citi and Wells Fargo last Friday, which assuaged investors' concerns about bank profitability," commented Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com.

"Meanwhile, the latest data on the U.S. housing market hinted at a decline in future construction, underscoring the impact of high interest rates. Despite the slowdown in the housing market, the labor market continues to hold up quite well and inflation is falling rapidly. Ultimately, the United States is still likely heading for an economic slowdown, but it may be less severe than expected. This is why investors have scaled back their forecasts of Fed rate cuts from extreme levels, and U.S. equity markets have performed quite well in recent weeks."

On the main list in Piazza Affari, banks lead, with Banca Monte dei Paschi doing best of all up 5.6 percent, followed by BPER Banca, up 4.1 percent, UniCredit up 2.2 percent to Mediobanca, up 2.0 percent.

Also doing well is Assicurazioni Generali, up 0.6 percent. The company announced Thursday that it has placed a new Euro-denominated Tier 2 bond maturing April 20, 2033, issued in green format under Generali's sustainability bond framework.

The new bonds are issued at the same time as Generali's announced cash repurchase offer, with the aim of repurchasing an aggregate nominal amount of bonds not exceeding EUR500 million.

Moncler also rises, up 1.3%.

On the negative note--the list's minority--Erg and Saipem step back 1.6 and 1.3 percent, placing them at the tail end of the list, where only Leonardo does worse, down 1.8 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, Acea - in the red by 0.8 percent - reported on Tuesday that the shareholders' meeting, in addition to approving the financial statements as of December 31 and the allocation of the profit for the year, appointed the new board of directors, which will remain in office for three fiscal years, precisely until the approval of the financial statements for the year 2025.

Thus, Barbara Marinali, Fabrizio Palermo, Nathalie Tocci, Angelo Piazza, Elisabetta Maggini, Alessandro Picardi, Luisa Melara, Thomas Devedjian, Vincenza Patrizia Rutigliano, Alessandro Caltagirone, Massimiliano Capece Minutolo Del Sasso, Antonino Cusimano and Antonella Rosa Bianchessi were elected.

Barbara Marinali was confirmed as chairman of the board.

Brunello Cucinelli rises 1.7 percent on the day of the release of quarterly results, Tod's is in the green by 0.8 percent, and Salvatore Ferragamo gains 0.9 percent.

Webuild -- in the money with 0.9 percent -- reported Tuesday that its U.S. joint venture subsidiary Lane has been selected preferred bidder to exclusively carry out the study that will define the implementation of the project, to date estimated at USD1 billion in total value, for the modernization of "Tampa's Westshore Interchange."

Among the bearish, Saras gives instead 0.8 percent to EUR1.2690, following the same trend as the oil sector on the Mib.

On the Small-Cap segment, the top of the list is for Autostrade Meridionali, which rises 7.4 percent.

Elica--up 1.8%--reported Tuesday that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Ilve,an Italian company specializing in cooking systems, which will allow the company to grow in the world of home cooking by also marketing induction ovens and hobs.

Mondo TV rises 2.6 percent after announcing Monday that it has reached a preliminary agreement to sign a pre-sale agreement with Italian TV station Rai Kids for the Agent 203 series, commissioned by German TV Super RTL and co-produced with Toon2Tango.

The agreement includes a seven-year license for Free TV and VOD rights for the Italian territory, and its value corresponds to about 8 percent of the parent company's revenues for 2023.

Among SMEs, Shedir Pharma -- in the green by about 12 percent -- reported Tuesday that it posted consolidated net revenues of EUR14.2 million in the first quarter of 2023, up 44 percent from the same period a year earlier, when they amounted to EUR9.9 million.

Defence Tech Holding gives up 3.0 percent, after announcing the entry of Tinexta - in the red by 0.5 percent on the Mid - as a new strategic partner in its shareholding structure, which today finalized the purchase of a 20 percent stake in Defence Tech through its own wholly owned vehicle.

The transfer of the shareholding to Tinexta was finalized upon the fulfillment of all conditions precedent stipulated in the relevant binding agreement, including Golden Power authorization and obtaining confirmation from the Panel of the Italian Stock Exchange that there is no need to promote a takeover bid following the mere subscription of the Tinexta Call," the company's note reads.

The purchase by the Tinexta Vehicle of 20 percent of Defence Tech's capital, amounting to about 5.1 million shares, was carried out pro-rata by the reference shareholders, Comunimpresa, GE.DA Europe and Starlife, at EUR4.90 per share, for a total consideration of about EUR25.0 million.

Somec--down 1.4 percent--reported Tuesday that it had won EUR13.7 million in orders from Fincantieri Spa to benefit its Professional Kitchens Systems and Products division.

The deals involve subsidiary Oxin, which specializes in the design, production, installation and maintenance of on-board kitchen systems on passenger ships and large pleasure yachts, and consist of a total of three orders, two of which are on option.

In New York at the height of trading Tuesday, the Dow is down 0.4 percent, the Nasdaq gives up 0.1 percent while the S&P 500 is down 0.2 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0962 versus USD1.0915 at Monday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2425 from USD1.2359 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD84.75 per barrel versus USD84.98 per barrel on Monday evening. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,020.85 an ounce from USD1,990.12 an ounce at yesterday's close.

On Wednesday's economic calendar, Japanese industrial production data are due at 0630 CEST.

At 0800 CEST, inflation data and the producer price index will arrive from the United Kingdom.

At the same time, data on car registrations in Italy,UK, Germany and France are expected.

At 1000 CEST it is the turn of the Eurozone's current account and non-seasonally adjusted current account.

An hour later, also in Europe, comes Eurozone inflation data.

From overseas, at 1300 CEST, it is the turn of US mortgages.

At 1430 CETS Canada makes us data on new construction sites and the industrial products price index, while two hours later the US releases crude oil stocks volumes.

Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, results from Covivio, Estrima, Gismondi 1754, OVS, Renergetica and Saipem are expected.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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