(Alliance News) - Major European stock markets continued to follow a bullish trend in mid-day Tuesday, including London, which, in its first trading hours of the new year, has to contend with a serious health crisis, a wave of strikes that does not seem to be abating, and, released in the morning, data indicating a worsening decline in the U.K. manufacturing sector recorded in December.

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global and CIPS UK manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 45.3 points in December from 46.5 points in November. The figure is the lowest in 31 months but exceeds the initial estimate of 44.7.

The FTSE Mib, therefore, is in the green by 1.6 percent at 24,523.67.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is up 1.3 percent to 14,246.01, Paris' CAC 40 is in the green 1.1 percent to 6,666.98, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 1.3 percent to 14,245.84.

On the British health care front, moreover, some doctors have called the strain on the national system "intolerable and unsustainable" after claims that the deaths of up to 500 people each week could be caused by delays in emergency care.

More than a dozen NHS trusts and ambulance services have declared critical incidents over the holiday period, with officials citing rising flu cases and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic among the reasons for the pressure on the health service.

From Germany, meanwhile, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 5.5 percent in December 2022, unchanged from November's revised figure and slightly below the market consensus of 5.6 percent, suggesting that the overall labor market remained stable despite the deepening energy crisis and record inflation.

Among Italy's smaller lists, the Mid-Cap is in the green 1.2 percent to 40,219.37, the Small-Cap is up 0.3 percent to 28,201.57, and Italy Growth is up 0.6 percent to 9,376.28.

On the main list of Piazza Affari, which is almost all tinged with green, Pirelli is vying for the top spot with UniCredit. The former gathers 2.7 percent and the latter is up 2.8 percent.

Also doing well is Saipem, which rallies 2.8% after its 5.0% rise on the eve of trading.

Enel picks up 2.2% after announcing Friday that Enel Brasil, a subsidiary through Chilean listed company Enel Américas, has finalized the sale of its entire stake in Brazilian power distribution company CELG Distribuição CELG D, amounting to about 99.9% of the latter's share capital, to Equatorial Participações e Investimentos, a subsidiary of Equatorial Energia.

Eni rises 0.9 percent after announcing the birth of Eni Sustainable Mobility, the new company dedicated to sustainable mobility.

As Eni explained, it is a vertically integrated company along the entire value chain, which aims to provide progressively decarbonized services and products for the energy transition, accelerating the path to zero emissions throughout their entire life cycle.

Eni Sustainable Mobility will develop biorefining, biomethane and the sale of mobility products, services and solutions, in Italy and abroad, on a path that will see it evolve into a multi-service and multi-energy company. Included in the company are biorefining and biomethane assets, which include the Venice and Gela biorefineries and the development of new projects such as Livorno and Pengerang, in Malaysia, which are now being evaluated.

Only two bearish, Tenaris and Leonardo, in the red by 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent respectively.

Generalfinance reported on Tuesday that it closed fiscal year 2022 with a total turnover of EUR2.01 billion and a flow of disbursements of EUR1.67 billion, figures substantially in line with what was anticipated in the forecast presented to the market on November 4, as part of the illustration of the new 2022-2024 business plan.

On the predominantly bullish Mid-Cap, Juventus FC remains in the upper quarters with a plus 2.9 percent but, unlike this morning's opening, leading the list is Alerion, up 4.7 percent.

Webuild marks a plus 1.1 percent after informing Monday that it purchased in the week of Dec. 28 and Dec. 30, 2022, inclusive, 40,500 shares of its own common stock.

The shares were taken over at an average price of EUR1.3837 per share for a total value of EUR56,040.74.

Anima Holding is up 1.2 percent. The company announced Friday that it is continuing its partnership with the Crédit Agricole Italia Group, adapting as necessary the previous agreement linking Anima and Credito Valtellinese.

The revision, as Anima explained in a note, became appropriate following the merger of Credito Valtellinese into Crédit Agricole Italia, effective April 24, 2022.

The agreement maintains its original term through 2027. CAI and Anima intend to preserve the industrial value of the partnership, related to the stability of assets under management.

Zignago Vetro - up 1.5 percent - announced Tuesday that it has lost its Small and Medium Enterprise status as the transitional regime that changed the definition of SME, eliminating the reference to the turnover parameter, has come to an end.

On the Small-Cap side, Eems rallied 1.9 percent. Also doing well is Beghelli, in the green by 2.0% but on top now is BasicNet, which gathers 4.5%.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale, however, is down 0.3%. The company announced Monday that the period for the exercise of option rights relating to the offer to shareholders of up to 79.1 million ordinary shares for a maximum total amount of EUR25.1 million has ended.

During the offering period as a result of the exercise of 110.6 million option rights, 58.0 million shares were subscribed in the offering for a total consideration of EEUR18.4 million.

Among SMEs, Neurosoft is still on top with a theoretical rise of 43 percent.

MeglioQuesto, after closing up 15 percent and opening in the green by 4.1 percent, now gives up 4.6 percent. On Friday, it reported that board chairman Jaime Torrents Rotelli bought 18,500 shares of the company's common stock.

Circle picks up 0.3 percent. It announced Monday that it has signed a new contract through the Log@Sea business network to supply advanced Gate Automation solutions to a leading Tyrrhenian multipurpose terminal.

"The order, the value of which exceeds EUR145,000, involves the implementation of a complete project of specialized hardware components and Milos software for the management of gate access control procedures for vehicles and Intermodal Transport Units. The topical moment and market confidence in the solutions behind our Connect 4 Agile Growth plan are confirmed," explained President and CEO Luca Abatello.

Erfo Pharmaceutical Laboratory deteriorates and gives up 5.5 percent. The company reported Monday that Active Capital Investment, linked to the chairman of the board, purchased 16,000 shares of common stock.

The shares were taken over at an average price per unit of EUR1.871, for a total value of EUR29,936.00.

In Asia, with Tokyo still closed for holidays, the Shanghai Composite finished in the green by 0.9 percent at 3,116.51 and the Hang Seng closed up 1.8 percent at 20,145.29.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0539 against USD1.0668 at Monday's close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.19156 from USD1.2051 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD85.20 per barrel from USD85.91 per barrel last night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,836.22 an ounce from USD1,823.70 an ounce Monday night.

On Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar, the U.S. manufacturing PMI is expected at 1545 CET, anticipated at 1400 CET by Germany's inflation.

On the bond front, three- and six-month T-Note auctions will be held at 1730 CET.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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