(Alliance News) - On Monday, major European stock markets confirm expectations and open in positive territory, with the exception of the London Stock Exchange, which is in the red, while data on business confidence in Germany are awaited.

Thus, the FTSE Mib opens in the green by 0.5 percent to 33,469.29, the Mid-Cap is in the fractional red at 47,153.72, the Small-Cap gives up 0.2 percent to 28,767.92, while Italy Growth is in the fractional red at 8,104.01.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is in the red by 0.1 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 rises 0.3 percent, as does Paris' CAC 40.

On the Mib, the banking sector opens with a sprint, with BPER Banca leading the way at the start, rising 2.8 percent.

It is followed by Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, Banco BPM, and UniCredit, all up in a range of 2.5 percent to 1.7 percent.

Down goes Hera, which sits on the bottom giving up 1.2 percent, while Terna rises, in the green by 0.3 percent. According to the company's data, electricity demand in May was 24.7 billion kWh, up 1.9% from May 2023.

This positive change, which only partially recovers last year's May figure in which there was a 7.4 percent decline, was achieved with an equal number of working days, 22, and an average monthly temperature basically in line with May 2023.

The figure for electricity demand did not vary from May a year earlier, confirming growth at a slower pace due to a slight recovery in industry of 1.4 percent and a more brisk recovery in services.

At the territorial level, the trend change in May was up 1.8 percent in the North and Center and 2.3 percent in the South and Islands. In the first five months of the year, national requirements are up 1.1 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2023.

On the cadet segment, Fincantieri drops 2.6 percent. The company together with Viking announced Friday that it has signed contracts to build two cruise ships.

The ships will be based on the characteristics of previous ships already built by Fincantieri for this shipowner and will be delivered between 2028 and 2029. The value of the deal has been described as "large."

Maire Tecnimont -- down 0.7 percent -- announced Thursday that NextChem, through its subsidiary NextChem Tech, will act as Technology Design Integrator to develop the Process Design Package for the hydrogen and carbon dioxide recovery unit of the Hail and Ghasha development project.

The Hail and Ghasha project, whose project was awarded to Tecnimont - Maire's Integrated E&C Solutions - by ADNOC in October 2023 for a total value of USD8.7 billion, is one of the most strategic initiatives globally for the decarbonization of the energy transformation industry, the company explained in a note.

In addition, the company announced Monday that NextChem, through its subsidiary MyRechemical, a leader in the Waste-to-Chemical segment, has signed a license agreement with DG Fuels Louisiana in connection with its proprietary NX Circular gasification technology.

The plant, expected to be operational in 2028, will produce 450 million liters per year of Sustainable Aviation Fuel derived from residual biomass and a small portion of municipal waste.

Iren gives up 1.3 percent after it announced Wednesday that it has signed a new EUR200 million, 18-year green-format credit line with the European Investment Bank that will be used to support the group's sustainable investments in the 2023-2027 timeframe related to electricity grid resilience projects.

Only Acea does worse, in the red by 2.8%, while the banking rally continues here as well, with Banca Ifis doing best of all, up 1.8%.

Sesa--up 1.6 percent--reported Thursday that it closed the year to April 30 with consolidated revenues and other income of EUR3.21 billion from EUR2.90 billion in 2023 and marking growth of 10 percent.

Among smallcaps, doValue gave up 0.4 percent after it reported that following the announcement of the binding agreement to acquire Gardant, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings confirmed the company's Issuer Credit Rating and Issuer Default Rating at "BB," with a "Stable" outlook.

The rating and outlook confirmation reflect expectations that the integration of Gardant will allow doValue to reduce leverage, according to the released note.

Leonardo--down 0.6 percent on the Mib--reported that it has signed an agreement to sell its outright stake in Industria Italiana Autobus to Seri Industrial, which is 1.4 percent in the red.

Under the deal, Seri Industrial will take over 98 percent of the share capital while the remaining 2 percent will continue to be held by Invitalia, already a partner along with Leonardo in Industria Italiana Autobus.

Among SMEs, ESI rises 0.6 percent after it announced Friday that it has signed a contract for the construction of a photovoltaic plant, to be built in the province of Alessandria, commissioned by a leading international operator in the energy sector.

The order consists of the design, construction and installation of a photovoltaic plant with a capacity of 5 MWP in the Piedmont region.

The amount of the order, which is approximately EUR4.2 million, will be for fiscal years 2024 and 2025.

Ecomembrane is not yet affected by the trades. The company reported that SBS Solar, a 55 percent subsidiary of Ecomembrane and part of the consolidation scope, has signed a three-year framework contract with a leading energy operator for the design and supply of Solaxis single-axis solar trackers on nine photovoltaic plants, to be built in the future, with a total installed capacity of more than 100MW.

The total value of materials purchased under the framework contract, for the first four plants under exclusivity, is estimated and will not exceed EUR6.5 million over a three-year period.

Comal rises 2.3 percent after it announced Friday that it has won a EUR1.2 million order from an Italian operator to supply the Sun Hunter tracker.

The tracker is designed and manufactured by Comal at its Montalto di Castro factory and is a state-of-the-art product, already with an extensive track record of completed installations and enabling a significant increase in the levels of energy produced by the plant and a sharp reduction in wind damage.

In Asia, the Nikkei rose 0.5 percent to 38,804.65, the Hang Seng was in the red 0.7 percent to 17,897.26, and the Shanghai Composite closed down 1.2 percent to 2,963.10.

In New York on Friday, the Dow closed fractional green at 39,150.33, the Nasdaq finished down 0.2 percent at 17,689.36 and the S&P 500 fell 0.2 percent to 5,464.62.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0705 from USD1.0686 on Friday in European equities closing while the pound was worth USD1.2652 from USD1.2626 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is trading at USD84.31 per barrel from USD85.78 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,339.70 an ounce from USD2,338.90 on Friday evening.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar opens with data on German business expectations and the IFO business confidence index in Germany at 1000 CEST.

At 1200 CEST in the UK, data on the trend in industrial orders are expected, while at the same time there is the Eurogroup meeting and the German Buba monthly report.

An hour later is the turn of the Spanish consumer confidence index and Chinese foreign direct investment data.

No particular announcements are expected among companies listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to redazione@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2024 Alliance News IS Italian Service Ltd. All rights reserved.