(Alliance News) - Major European indexes open near parity Tuesday morning as investors cautiously await flash PMI data from the Eurozone, Britain and the US later in the day, which will provide clues on the economic outlook ahead of upcoming central bank events, starting with the ECB meeting scheduled for Thursday.

Also weighing in is the GfK indicator of German consumer sentiment for November. According to estimates, the figure is set to fall for the third consecutive month to minus 28.1, the lowest value in seven months, compared to forecasts of minus 26.6.

Thus, the FTSE Mib opens down 0.4 percent at 27,456.03, the Mid-Cap is in fractional red at 38,175.49, the Small-Cap is up 0.1 percent at 24,343.99, and Italy Growth is in fractional green at 7,759.35.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 gives up 0.3 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is up 0.2 percent, as is Frankfurt's DAX 40.

On the main list in Piazza Affari, UniCredit gives up 0.6 percent. Tuesday morning that the board of directors approved "record results" for the first nine months of the year, during which the group made a profit of EUR6.70 billion, up nearly 68 percent from EUR4.00 billion in the same period of 2022.

In the third quarter, the group realized revenues of EUR6.00 billion, up 24 percent from EUR4.82 billion in the third quarter of 2022. Net interest income amounted to EUR3.60 billion, up 45 percent from EUR2.48 billion in the same period of 2022, mainly due to higher interest rates and good management of deposit pass-through.

Enel advanced 0.6 percent after announcing Monday that it has signed an agreement with Ormat Technologies Inc. through its wholly owned subsidiary Enel Green Power North America Inc. to sell a portfolio of renewable assets in the US.

The sale will be for a total consideration of USD271 million, subject to the usual adjustments for this type of transaction. The portfolio consists of about 150 MW of geothermal and solar plants in operation.

Iveco Group gives up 1.6 percent. On Monday, it reported that it purchased 160,180 shares of its own common stock between Oct. 16 and Oct. 20.

The shares were taken over at an average unit price of EUR8.4847, for a total consideration of EUR1.3 million.

Eni -- in fractional red -- announced Monday that it has signed a long-term contract with QatarEnergy LNG NFE, the joint venture between Eni and QatarEnergy for the development of the North Field East project in Qatar, to supply up to 1.5 billion cubic meters per year of LNG.

The available volumes will be delivered to the "FSRU Italia" regasification terminal currently located in Piombino, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2026 for a duration of 27 years.

Telecom Italia reverses course after eve's 2.6 percent red and rises 0.3 percent. The company announced Sunday that the board of directors will meet on Nov. 3 "to examine the binding offer on NetCo and the offer, of a non-binding nature, regarding Sparkle, received from KKR last Oct. 16, as well as to examine the question of which corporate body is competent to decide on the matter."

An informal board meeting will be held on November 4 to continue questioning management and consultants, the company specifies, and the board "will meet again formally on November 5 to deliberate."

On the cadet segment, Juventus Football Club opens in fractional red. The company announced Monday that the board of directors has approved the proposed paid capital increase up to a maximum of EUR200 million, including share premium, and a share grouping in the ratio of 1 share for every 10 Juventus shares held.

Fincantieri gives up 0.9%. On Monday it announced that Vard, among the world's top companies in special shipbuilding and part of the Fincantieri Group, and the Windward Offshore consortium have signed a contract for the design and construction of two hybrid Commissioning Service Operation Vessels.

The contract also includes an option for two additional vessels. First delivery is scheduled in the second quarter of 2025.

Maire Tecnimont -- down 0.9 percent -- announced Monday that it has been awarded new contracts worth a total of about USD60 million in its Sustainable Technology Solutions business unit.

Specifically, the company points out in a note, STS was awarded licensing and equipment supply contracts for an "Ultra Low Energy" urea plant in China for client Shandong Lianmeng Chemical Company.

Banca Ifis - in the red by 0.5 percent - announced last week that the board appointed Antonella Malinconico as the new preisdnete of the Audit and Risk Committee.

Beatrice Colleoni, on the other hand, will lead the Remuneration committee while Roberta Gobbi will replace the resigning Monica Regazzi as a member of the Appointments committee, of which she will also be chairman.

The board of directors of Alerion Clean Power -- in the red by 0.8 percent -- approved the signing of two preliminary contracts to purchase 100 percent of the share capital of two companies that own two licensed wind power projects. The seller is Fri-el, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fri-el Green Power. The planned investment the construction of the wind power plants will amount to about EUR100 million and both plants are expected to start operation by the first half of 2025.

Alerion's board of directors also approved the purchase of 100 percent of the share capital of Fri-el Solar Srl, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fri-el Spa, which holds a portfolio of photovoltaic development projects in Italy.

On the Small-Cap, Sogefi gives up 1.1 percent. The company announced Monday that it reported net income for the first nine months of the year of EUR45.8 million, up 39 percent from EUR33.0 million in the same period last year.

Revenues stood at EUR1.25 billion, up 8.1 percent from EUR1.15 billion in the first nine months of 2022.

Landi Renzo is flat after announcing Monday the appointment of Annalisa Stupenengo as a board member.

Esprinet - in the green by 0.5 percent - announced that it will distribute Garanteasy in Italy, a cloud service built around consumer needs that makes it easy to manage any type of warranty on consumer goods by connecting all players in the warranty ecosystem: stores, e-commerce, manufacturers, insurance companies, service centers and payment systems.

Among SMEs, Take Off opens up 6.6 percent. It reported Monday that in the first nine months of the year it reported core revenues of EUR22.2 million, up 12 percent from EUR19.6 million in the same period a year earlier.

The group's average selling price is EUR18.58 from EUR15.96 as of September 30, 2022.

Datrix gives up 3.6 percent after reporting Monday that subsidiary ByTek reported positive results from its collaboration with Lancôme, a L'Oréal SA group company.

Lancôme, an iconic brand in the cosmetics industry, has chosen ByTek since 2021 to improve its digital presence and increase revenue from organic search. The main goals were clear from the beginning: optimize the site, increase organic sessions, and increase search engine revenue.

Growens -- up 1.2 percent -- announced Monday that it had finalized the transaction to sell 100 percent of the share capital of its Dutch subsidiary Datatrics to Squeezely, a Spotler Group company, a leading marketing automation player in the Netherlands and UK.

The final price paid by the buyer for the purchase and sale of Datatrics' assets is EUR1.6 million.

Emma Villas--in the red by 8.4 percent after closing up 21 percent--reported Monday that it had achieved a record summer season. As of Oct. 17, according to management data collected by the Emma Villas Observatory, there were 5,930 bookings in Italy, surpassing by 4.2 percent the total bookings recorded in all of 2022, "a figure destined to improve further in view of the December holidays, where end-of-year bookings are traditionally concentrated," the company's note said.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the green 0.3 percent to 31,099.50, the Hang Seng gave up 0.9 percent to 17,010.00, and the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.8 percent to 2,962.24.

In New York, on European night, the Dow closed down 0.6 percent to 32,936.41, the Nasdaq up 0.3 percent to 13,018.33 and the S&P 500 finished 0.2 percent in the red at 4,217.04.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0667 against USD1.0621 recorded at Monday's European stock close while the pound was worth USD1.2267 from USD1.2207 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD90.60 per barrel from USD91.57 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,976.53 an ounce from USD1,976.37 an ounce on Monday evening.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar features preliminary PMIs from France, Germany, the Eurozone, UK, and the US later in the day, joined by data on US crude oil inventories at 2230 CEST.

Among the companies in Piazza Affari, Cofle, Italgas, Next Re and Talea Group will release accounts tomorrow.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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