(Alliance News) - On Thursday, major European stock markets are expected to fall -- except for the FTSE 100 -- ahead of a very dense morning on the macroeconomic front with the release of services sector data among several major Old Continent economies and the Bank of England's decision.

"European markets experienced another negative session yesterday, hit by concerns about weaker-than-expected economic activity, which in turn is raising fears about earnings growth in the second half of the year. Fitch's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating completed the circle of negativity, with U.S. markets also experiencing a down session as the dollar acted as a safe haven asset and the yield curve steepened," commented Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets.

"As a result of the continued sell-off in the U.S. and weakness in Asian markets, European markets look set to open lower later in the day, and although the Fitch downgrade tells us nothing about U.S. political governance that we don't already know, investors seem to want to test the extent of the market downturn."

Thus, IG futures give the FTSE Mib down 0.1 percent or down 35.0 points, after closing down 1.3 percent at 28,974.54,

Paris' CAC 40 is expected to be down 4.3 points or down 0.1 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 is given down 0.1 percent or down 17.0 points, while London's FTSE 100 is expected to be up 0.2 percent or up 13.0 points.

Among other listings in Milan on Wednesday, the Mid-Cap closed down 0.3% at 42,413.61, as did the Small-Cap at 26,934.00 and the Italy Growth at 9,012.77.

On the main index in Piazza Affari, Iveco Group took the top spot with an 8.7 percent gain after closing the first half with a net profit of EUR160 million compared with EUR21 million in the same period a year earlier.

Pre-tax profit rose to EUR245 million from EUR72 million while operating income increased to EUR245 million from EUR134 million.

Revenues rose to EUR7.58 billion from EUR6.42 billion a year earlier, with cost of sales up to EUR6.30 billion from EUR5.55 billion and selling, general and administrative expenses up to EUR483 million from EUR443 million.

Ferrari -- in the red by 0.3 percent -- said it reported very good half-year results, so much so that it decided to revise upward its full-year guidance.

In detail, net revenues came in at EUR2.90 billion, up 17 percent from EUR2.47 in the same period last year.

Adjusted net income stood at EUR631 million from EUR490 million as of June 30, 2022, up 29%.

Still trailing was Nexi, down 2.9 percent after publishing consolidated financial results as of June 30, reporting normalized group earnings of EUR295.0 million with normalized earnings per share of EUR0.22, up 8.0 percent year-on-year.

Nexi reported revenues that stood at EUR1.57 billion, up 8.1 percent from the same period a year earlier.

On the Mid-Cap, the board of directors of Technogym -- down 1.5 percent -- reviewed and approved the consolidated half-year financial report as of June 30, which closed with a consolidated net profit of EUR28.4 million compared to EUR23.4 million in the same period a year ago. Adjusted group profit was EUR28.1 million, up EUR3.1 million from EUR25.0 million in the first half of 2022.

Revenues were EUR370.0 million from EUR325.2 million in the first six months of 2022.

The board of directors of Anima Holding -- in the green by 6.0 percent -- announced Wednesday that it had approved the report for the six-month period ended June 30, with negative net inflows of EUR200 million, net of Branch I insurance proxies.

Net income stood at EUR63.2 million, up 6 percent from EUR59.4 million in the same period last year.

The board of directors of EuroGroup Laminations -- in the green by 7.3 percent -- announced that it had approved the half-year financial report as of June 30, 2023, which closed with a net profit of EUR18.8 million compared to EUR22.0 million in the same period of 2022.

During the first six months of 2023, revenues were EUR453.8 million, up 6.1 percent from the same period in 2022, when they were EUR427.8 million.

The board of directors of Tinexta, which closed in the green by 0.3 percent, approved the half-year financial report as of June 30, which closed with a net profit of EUR45.4 million compared to EUR14.2 million in the same six-month period of 2022.

Revenues for the first half of the year amounted to EUR182.5 million, up 8.6 percent from last year, with positive growth contributions from all business units.

On the Small-Cap segment, Esprinet, down 0.8 percent, announced Wednesday that it had concluded the purchase of 100 percent of the capital of Sifar Group, a company under Italian law active since 2012 in B2B distribution of spare parts, components and accessories for mobile phone and tablet products.

The portion of the consideration agreed at the closing, amounting to EUR9.3 million, was paid in full in cash and using available resources.

Class Editori - in the red by 2.3 percent - reported that net debt rose to EUR30.3 million as of June 30 from EUR21.8 million at the end of 2022.

Piquadro closed 2.8 percent in the red after announcing Wednesday that it had decided to initiate a buyback plan of up to 1.0 million of its own ordinary shares.

Among SMEs, Alfonsino -- down 1.0 percent -- reported Wednesday that it reached a new milestone with the acquisition of 104 new restaurants on its platform during July.

This achievement marked a significant 30 percent increase over the previous record, when 80 entries were recorded in October 2022.

MeglioQuesto, up 1.4 percent, announced that it has appointed Francesco Tam as the group's new chief financial officer.

In Asia, the Nikkei is in the red 1.6 percent to 32,165.68, the Hang Seng is gaining 0.5 percent to 19,604.76, and the Shanghai Composite is in the green 0.3 percent to 3,271.79.

In New York on Wednesday, the Dow Jones closed down 1.0 percent at 35,282.52, the S&P gave up 1.4 percent to 4,513.39, while the Nasdaq left the parter 2.2 percent at 13,973.45.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0936 versus USD1.0935 on Wednesday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2717 from USD1.2700 on Wednesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD83.29 per barrel versus USD83.36 per barrel at Wednesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,969.30 an ounce from USD1,970.85 an ounce on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday's economic calendar, at 0845 CEST the government budget is released in France.

From 0915 CEST to 1030 CEST the composite and purchasing managers' indices for the services sector in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, the Eurozone and the United Kingdom are published.

In detail, retail sales are released at 1000 CEST in Italy.

At 1100 CEST the producer price index for the Eurozone is released.

At 1300 CEST the Bank of England's decision on interest rates is expected.

Overseas, at 1430 CEST come the continuing unemployment claims, while at 1545 CEST it is the turn of the composite PMI and purchasing managers' index data for the services sector.

Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, results from Ariston Holding, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, BFF Bank, Buzzi Unicem, illimity Bank and Salvatore Ferragamo, among others, are expected.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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