(Alliance News) - On Thursday, the Mib continued with bullish trend, placing the point bar in the 33,700 area, after investors weighed in on the Federal Reserve's latest decision along with a series of corporate report updates, which are gradually appearing on the day's calendars.

The U.S. central bank opted to hold interest rates and adopted a somewhat more dovish tone, acknowledging that further time will be needed for inflation to converge toward the 2 percent target after several months of disappointing inflation readings, but ruling out a further increase in the cost of money.

On the domestic front, producer prices continued to decline in March, falling on both a monthly and annual basis, Istat reported Thursday. Industrial producer prices in Italy fell 0.2 percent on a monthly basis in March after falling 1.0 percent in February. On a year-over-year basis, the 9.6 percent decline followed a 10.8 percent drop in the previous month.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 0.1% to 33,751.37 with put/call volumes indicating a ratio of 0.64.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is giving up 0.7 percent, London's FTSE 100 is up 0.3 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is advancing just above par.

On Italy's smaller listings, the Mid-Cap is giving up 0.1 percent to 47,185.16, the Small-Cap is giving up 0.2 percent to 28,868.07, while Italy Growth is in the green by 0.1 percent to 8,228.46.

On the Mib, Banca Monte dei Paschi confirms a good session, leading the way since the bell rang, moving ahead 4.1% to EUR4.73 per share, after touching EUR4.76, a new 52-week high.

Hera advances 2.4 percent to EUR3.47 per share, after a 0.9 percent loss on eve.

Strength also on A2A, which scores a plus 2.2% with new price at EUR1.89 per share after a 0.9% decline in the last session.

Stellantis, on the other hand, is giving up 3.5 percent. The company on Tuesday reported that it had net revenues of EUR41.7 billion in the first quarter, down 12 percent from the first quarter of 2023, when they were EUR47.2 billion, "mainly due to lower volumes and unfavorable currency exchange and mix effects, partly offset by holding prices."

Deliveries were 1.3 million units, down 10 percent, and "reflect actions on production and stock management in preparation for the arrival of new products in the second half of 2024," the company explained in the released note.

Sales also on Eni, which reprices to the EUR14.76 area with bearish balance of 2.4 percent.

On the cadet segment, LUVE advances 0.9%, following Tuesday evening's 1.1% decline.

Iren, on the other hand, marks a plus 1.8 percent after a 1.4 percent contraction on the eve.

Ariston Holding is advancing 1.8% after a 3.2% contraction in the previous session.

At the tail end, Maire Tecnimont is giving up 2.7 percent on the heels of Tuesday's 0.5 percent red. The company announced Tuesday that Nextchem reports that NextChem, through its subsidiary NextChem Tech, has finalized the acquisition of 80 percent of HyDEP Srl and 100 percent of Dragoni Group Srl.

The transaction price is approximately EUR3.6 million, paid in advance. The agreement also includes an earn-out clause based on the achievement of technical targets within 30 months after closing, as well as put and call options on the remaining 20% share of HyDEP exercisable within 36 months after closing.

On the SmallCap, Itway moves ahead 5.9 percent, following up on the previous session's 2.4 percent green.

Also doing well is Monrif, which scores a plus 2.6%, following Tuesday night's 0.5% gain. Of note, the stock since the start of 2024 marks a loss of about 22%.

Safilo - down 0.2 percent - announced Thursday that it has signed a perpetual license agreement with Authentic Brands Group for Eyewear by David Beckham, replacing the previous contract expiring at the end of 2030. Under the new agreement, Safilo will continue to manage the entire value chain, from the design phase, a creative process led by David Beckham, to global production and distribution.

Seri Industrial, on the other hand, is giving up 9.3 percent to EUR3.97. On Tuesday it reported that during the first quarter of 2024 it posted revenues of EUR43.4 million with a slight decrease of EUR237,000 from the previous reporting period.

Among SMEs, strength on Askoll Eva, which moves ahead 7.4 percent to EUR0.29 per share after a change in top management. The compnay announced Tuesday that it had appointed Luca Bolcati as the company's new CEO with immediate effect. The board also appointed Luca Bolcati as the company's Investor Relator.

Purchases also on Alfonsino, which is marking plus 9.5 percent, following a 2 percent decline in the previous session.

On a negative note, Impianti is marking minus 3.6 percent after 4.4 percent red in the previous session.

Alfio Bardolla, on the other hand, is giving up 4.9%, with price in the EUR3.28 area, subject to profit taking after a long bullish streak.

In New York last night, the Dow Jones advanced 0.2% while the S&P and Nasdaq both closed down 0.3%.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0701 from USD1.0692 in Tuesday's European stock close while the pound was worth USD1.2515 from USD1.2522 Tuesday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD84.13 a barrel from USD86.49 a barrel Tuesday evening and gold trades at USD2,297.40 an ounce from USD2,298.92 an ounce Tuesday evening.

Thursday's macroeconomic calendar includes from the US, at 1430 CEST the release of trade balance data and the unemployment claims data, while at 1600 CEST it will be the turn of the durable goods report.

At 2230 CEST, the Federal Reserve's weekly balance sheet will be released instead.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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