(Alliance News) - On Thursday, major European stock markets close in positive territory and with a lot of momentum after the release of PMI data between the Old and New Continent and on a record-breaking day for some of the world's major stock exchanges.

Thus, the FTSE Mib closes in the green by 1.1 percent to 35,356.26, the Mid-Cap gains 0.6 percent to 45,831.59, the Small-Cap rises 1.6 percent to 27,966.73, and Italy Growth ends up 0.6 percent to 8,175.03.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 ends in the green by 1.5 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 rises 0.4 percent, and Paris' CAC 40 ends in the green by 0.3 percent.

"Japanese, French and German stock indexes hit all-time highs. Risk-off sentiment, following another string of exceptional gains by Nvidia, helped the Nikkei 225 surpass its 1989 peak and hit all-time highs at 39,098.68, as did the French and German blue chip indices. This was despite ECB officials agreeing that it is premature to talk about rate cuts and despite German PMI data showing that the economic recession has deepened."

"The contraction in the French services sector, however, eased considerably, as did that of the Eurozone private sector, which, while recording its ninth consecutive month of declining output, posted its weakest contraction since last June, thanks to stabilizing output in the services sector offsetting a further sharp contraction in manufacturing."

"Nvidia's 12 percent gains and its weighting of 5 on the Nasdaq 100 pushed the index up about 2 percent. The nearly three-month rise in the U.S. Treasury yield to 4.35 percent and much weaker-than-expected initial unemployment claims did not dampen the mood. The US dollar reversed initial weakness after the FOMC minutes on Thursday afternoon, ending gold's six consecutive days of gains."

On the Mib, Tenaris led the rises with a 7.3 percent gain after announcing results for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, a year that ended with a 5 percent increase in revenues on a sequential basis, "supported by a high level of shipments to the Middle East and for offshore pipeline projects," the company wrote in the note.

Total sales for 2023 were USD14.86 billion from USD11.76 billion in the previous year.

Ebitda was USD4.86 billion from USD3.64 billion in FY 2022.

Also doing well are Banco BPM, up 4.1 percent, and Amplifon, up 3.3 percent.

Also gaining momentum is Ferrari -- in the green by 3.1 percent -- after it announced Thursday its new global partnership with L'OR Espresso, a brand of JDE Peet's group, a leading global coffee and tea company.

On the bottom goes the energy sector, with Italgas, Terna and Snam, in the red between 1.9% and 1.2%.

Recordati, among the bearish, gives up 0.8 percent after it reviewed and approved its preliminary consolidated results for fiscal 2023, which closed with a net income of EUR389.2 million, up 25 percent from 2022, driven by strong operating performance and lower nonrecurring costs compared to 2022. This figure, moreover, has a revenue margin of about 19 percent.

Consolidated net revenues in 2023 were EUR2.08 billion up 12 percent from 2022, in line with the upper end of the guidance range revised upward last May, thanks to the "excellent business performance in both the Specialty & Primary Care and Rare Diseases segments, which continue to post double-digit growth, at constant exchange rates," the note said.

On the cadet segment, Brembo - in the green by 0.7 percent - announced Thursday that it has opened its first production site in Thailand.

The investment of about EUR40 million reflects the group's strategy to expand its industrial presence globally and allows Brembo to seize new growth opportunities in Southeast Asia, the company explained in a note.

Maire Tecnimont rises 2.4 percent after announcing Wednesday that NextChem, through its subsidiary NextChem Tech, has signed a binding agreement to acquire 80 percent of HyDEP Srl and 100 percent of Dragoni Group Srl.

The purchase price for the two shares is approximately EUR3.6 million.

Ariston Holding -- in the green by 1.7 percent -- on Thursday announced that it has finalized an agreement to acquire a production site located in the October 6 Municipality Industrial Park near Cairo, Egypt, from Universal Group, a historic Egyptian manufacturing company founded by Youssri Kotb.

Among smallcaps, Mondo TV rises 2.9 percent after it reported Thursday the conclusion of three major deals that confirm the positive phase in the distribution of its library.

TXT e-solutions gains 4.2 percent after announcing Thursday that as of December 31 it had revenues of EUR224 million, up about 48 percent from EUR150.8 million in 2022. On a like-for-like basis, revenues grew by about 12 percent and acquisitions contributed about EUR56 million. Total international revenues accounted for about 20 percent of total revenues in 2023, the company says.

Ebitda was about EUR31.5 million or 14 percent of revenues, up about 42 percent from ER22.3 million in 2022.

Among SMEs, Matica Fintec climbs 5.1 percent after it reported preliminary unaudited consolidated results as of Dec. 31 on Thursday, reporting a net profit of EUR2.2 million, up from EUR2.6 million as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Vimi Fasteners - in the red by 0.6 percent, reported Wednesday that it reported revenues of EUR61.3 million in 2023, up 15 percent from EUR53.3 million as of Dec. 31, 2022.

The Vimi group's order backlog as of Dec. 31, covering the full year 2024 and amounting to EUR39.2 million, up from EUR37.7 million in backlog at the end of 2022, was also up.

In New York, the Dow is in the green 0.7 percent to 38,895.56, the Nasdaq is up 2.5 percent to 15,965.94, and the S&P 500 is up 1.7 percent to 5,065.53.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0814 against USD1.0809 recorded at Wednesday's European stock close, while the pound is worth USD1.2643 from USD1.2612 on Wednesday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD83.52 per barrel versus USD82.57 per barrel at Wednesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,030.75 an ounce from USD2,028.77 an ounce on Wednesday evening.

Friday's macroeconomic calendar has the Tokyo Stock Exchange closed for Emperor's Birthday, while at 0101 CET comes the GfK index of British consumer confidence.

At 0800 CET, the German GDP is released in Europe, while half an hour later from Switzerland it is the turn of the fourth quarter employment level.

Also from Germany, at 1000 CET, German business expectations and the ifo index of business confidence in Germany are released.

At 1100 CET a Eurogroup meeting is held, and at 1110 CET an auction of Italian CTZs with a maturity of 2 years.

Among the companies listed in Piazza Affari, the results of Alkemy, Generalfinance and Sogefi are expected.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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