(Alliance News) - Friday's major European indexes remain firmly anchored on the bullish course followed already in the early morning, with the Mib almost entirely tinged with green driven by Prysmian and Nexi.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.9 percent to 34,235.01, the Mid-Cap is up 1.0 percent to 46,874.52, the Small-Cap is up 1.0 percent to 28,577.82, and Italy Growth is in the green by 0.3 percent to 8,158.74.

London's FTSE 100 is in the green by 0.5 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 advances 0.7 percent and Paris' CAC 40 rises 0.2 percent.

On the macro front, as we await the U.S. PCE coming this afternoon, the European Central Bank reported Friday that bank lending to Eurozone households increased 0.2% year-on-year to EUR6.875 billion in March, down from the 0.3% increase in the previous month.

This was the slowest pace of credit growth since February 2015, as the European Central Bank's restrictive measures implemented in recent months continued to weigh on consumer demand.

On the Mib, Prysmian advanced 2.9% followed by Nexi up 2.5% and ERG, up 2.3%.

Tenaris rises 1.6 percent after reporting Thursday results for the first quarter of the year, which closed with a USD750 million profit down from USD1.13 billion in the first quarter of 2023.

Revenues increased to USD3.44 billion from USD4.14 billion in the same period.

Among the few bearish performers, Moncler -- which closes the list in the red by 1.0 percent -- on Wednesday reported results for the first quarter of 2024, which closed with consolidated revenues of EUR818.0 million, up 16 percent from EUR726.4 million as of March 31, 2023.

Hera, meanwhile, gave up 0.8 percent while STMicroelectronics -- down 0.7 percent -- reported Thursday that revenues and profits fell by double digits in the first quarter and that it expects revenues to decline further in the second quarter.

Revenues for the first three months fell to USD3.47 billion from EUR4.25 billion in the first quarter of 2023, an annual decline of 18%, and from USD4.28 billion in the fourth quarter of 2023, a quarterly decline of 19%.

On the cadet segment, illimity Bank and Salvatore Ferragamo take the podium with gains of 4.7 percent and 3.4 percent.

Saras advances 0.7 percent after announcing Friday that, in connection with the prospective acquisition by Vitol BV of a stake representing approximately 35 percent of the share capital of Saras, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers issued a decree regarding the exercise of special powers - golden power - "containing prescriptions that do not impede the completion of the transaction."

Therefore, the statement says, one of the related conditions precedent for the completion of the transaction has been fulfilled.

Shareholders of Credito Emiliano -- in the green by 1.5 percent -- appointed members of the new board of directors on Wednesday.

Joining the new board are Paola Agnese Bongini, Enrico Corradi, Giorgia Fontanesi, Mariaelena Fontanesi, Elisabetta Gualandri, Luigi Maramotti, Alessandro Merli, Ernestina Morstofolini, Edoardo Prezioso, Anna Chiara Svelto, Giovanni Filippo Emilio Viani and Lucio Igino Zanon di Valgiurata.

The Credem board of directors, which met at the end of the meeting, confirmed Lucio Igino Zanon di Valgiurata as chairman and Enrico Corradi and Luigi Maramotti as vice chairmen.

Webuild -- in the green by 1.9 percent -- reported Wednesday that it had acquired EUR5.5 billion in new orders since the beginning of the year at the end of March.

As the former Salini Impregilo explained, almost all of the new orders came from abroad, in markets such as Canada, the US, and Saudi Arabia. The significant order intake represents about 50 percent of the expected orders for the year 2024.

Added to this is a near-term commercial pipeline of more than EUR70 billion, fueled by the major investment plans launched in key markets monitored by the group, such as Central and Northern Europe, Australia, the U.S. and the Middle East.

The board of directors of Maire Tecnimont -- which trades up 2.6 percent -- on Wednesday reviewed and approved the interim report for the year ended March 31. Net income was net to EUR46.6 million from EUR26.2 billion up 78 percent to 3.7 percent of revenues, up 100 basis points.

Revenues amounted to EUR1.3 billion, up from EUR957.9 billion, "mainly due to the progression of ongoing projects, including the advancement of engineering and procurement activities of the Hail and Ghasha project," spieha the company.

Among the smallcaps, d'Amico International Shipping advances 1.9 percent after announcing Friday that its Irish operating subsidiary d'Amico Tankers DAC has entered into a construction contract with Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding Co. of China for the purchase of two additional new LR1 'Long Range' tankers -- 75,000 deadweight tons -- at a contract price of USD56.2 million each.

Seri Industrial remains in the high quarters as at the open and rises 9.5 percent.

SAES Getters - in the red by 0.3 percent - announced Wednesday that it has proceeded with the signing of a binding Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 100 percentof the share capital of FMB Feinwerk- und Meßtechnik, now owned by majority shareholder Uwe Schneck, minority shareholders Ingmar Lehmann and Jens Rekow, and the company Mardi Beteiligungs.

The agreed purchase price is EUR8 million.

Itway -- in the green by 0.5 percent -- on Wednesday disclosed that it closed 2023 with a pre-tax loss of EUR481,000 from one of EUR362,000 as of Dec. 31, 2022, while the net loss was EUR330,000 from one of EUR348,000.

Revenues in the period stood at EUR49.1 million from EUR46.7 million in 2022.

Elica - in the red by 0.6 percent - on Wednesday signaled that it will start a new buyback plan from April 26 for a maximum number of buyable shares of 1 million.

Among SMEs, Innovatec advances 6.1% and leads the list. Datrix and Allcore also do well, up 5.4% and 4.0%.

Caribbean Company advances 1.0%. The company reported Thursday that revenues for the first three months rose 4.2% year-on-year to EUR11.7 million from EUR11.2 million in the same period last year.

Poligrafici Printing -- in the green by 2.3 percent -- reported Wednesday that it ended 2023 with consolidated revenues of EUR24.1 million from EUR28.0 million as of December 31, 2022.

Ebitda stood at EUR4.9 million in 2023 from EUR6.1 million in the previous year.

Consolidated profit for the year was EUR1.5 million from EUR2.4 million in 2022. The company proposed distributing a dividend of EUR0.03 per share from EUR0.0295 in 2022.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 0.8 percent, the Shanghai Composite closed up 1.2 percent, and the Hang Seng closed up 2.1 percent.

In New York, the Dow closed down 1.0 percent to 38,085.80, the Nasdaq gave up 0.6 percent to 15,611.76 and the S&P 500 finished down 0.5 percent to 5,048.42.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0732 from USD1.0717 on Thursday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2512 from USD1.2491 on Thursday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD89.19 a barrel from USD87.57 a barrel Thursday evening and gold trades at USD2,349.63 an ounce from USD2,346.10 an ounce Thursday evening.

Friday afternoon's macroeconomic calendar features the PCE index for the US and the price index for core personal expenditures at 1430 CEST, while wholesale and manufacturing sales are released from Canada at the same time.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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