(Alliance News) - European stock markets Tuesday -- according to the futures market -- are heading for an upward opening as trading rooms await the U.S. inflation figure and interest rate decisions by major central banks this week.

The FTSE Mib is advancing 92.50 points, after closing Monday up 0.1 percent to 30,426.58.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is advancing 11.90 points, Paris' CAC 40 is advancing 18.50 points, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is advancing 12.30 points.

Among Asian exchanges, the Nikkei closed up 0.1 percent, the Shanghai Composite picked up 0.4 percent, and the Hang Seng advanced with 1.3 percent.

Among the smaller listings last night, the Mid-Cap finished up 0.1 percent to 42,694.61, the Small-Cap gained 0.2 percent to 26,679.50, and the Italy Growth lost 0.3 percent to 8,068.10.

On the Mib last night, FinecoBank did well, up 5.3 percent after it reported November net inflows of EUR286.6 million, which compares with EUR497.6 million in November 2022. Since the beginning of the year, inflows are EUR7.57 billion compared to EUR8.67 billion in the January-November period of the previous year.

Interpump, up 1.1 percent, and Amplifon, bullish by 2.0 percent, also did well.

Leonardo, on the other hand, gave up 0.3%. International rating agency S&P Global included Leonardo in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the Dow Jones Sustainability Europe Index for the 14th consecutive year.

Alessandro Profumo, Fabrizio Viola and Paolo Salvadori, respectively former chairman, former chief executive officer and then chairman of the board of statutory auditors of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena -- up 2.9 percent at the end of the session -- were acquitted by the Milan Court of Appeals because the fact does not exist.

This closes the trial for false accounting and market rigging that is part of the investigation strand on the accounting of Santorini and Alexandria derivatives.

The court thus overturned the first-instance ruling that, in 2020, had instead convicted the bank's former top management: Profumo and Viola had been sentenced to six years while Salvadori was sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment and Monte Paschi was ordered to pay EUR800,000 in fines.

On the Mid-Cap, Banca Ifis rose, reflecting the good session in the banking segment. The bank's stock rose 2.3 percent.

Fincantieri--down 1.3 percent--reported that Norwegian subsidiary Vard has signed a USD200 million contract to design and build a state-of-the-art hybrid cable-laying ship for Japanese company Toyo Construction.

Zignago Vetro closed up 0.6 percent after purchasing--from Dec. 4 to Dec. 8--32,472 treasury shares. The average price was EUR13.44 per share for a total consideration of about EUR437,000.

On the Small-Cap, Tessellis rose 18 percent, ending its fifth session in a row among the bullish.

Gequity lost 5.0 percent after making it known that it will divest the Education business for EUR5.3 million, as announced by the company after hearing from the independent adviser called to give his opinion on the transaction. Taking over the Education branch will be Believe.

Meanwhile, Gequity also approved the new 2023-2027 business plan, which was built by integrating the economic and capital flows from BestBe's 2023-2027 business plan to the Gequity as-is structure.

doValue gained 1.1 percent after signing the acquisition by doValue Spain of Team 4 Collection & Consulting, a subsidiary of the Arvato Group.

The deal is expected to close by the end of the year and is subject to standard conditions precedent. This integration accelerates doValue Spain's strategy to expand its activities in the management of small unsecured loans, a rapidly growing market segment in the region and in Europe, and is consistent with its strategy to develop its business through greater diversification and a broader client base.

Among the SMEs in the stock market, Fope rose 0.7 percent. The company announced that it has opened a new flagship boutique in the prestigious Seibu mall in Kuala Lumpur.

"Repeating the positive experiences of existing partnerships with prestigious dealers in the management of boutiques in London and Tokyo, a boutique has also been opened in Kuala Lumpur in partnership with Suen Jewellers Sdn Bhd, an important and loyal Malaysian client," the company said.

The investment for the construction of the boutique was supported by Fope, the design was handled by Italian architect Flavio Albanese of ASA Studio while the operational management and customer reception services are entrusted to the care and professionalism of the Suen Jewellers Sdn Bhd team.

STAR7--up 1.4 percent--reported that it has entered into the deed of merger of Vertere Srl, an Italian company active in translation and localization services, into STAR7.

Maps lost 0.7 percent after announcing Monday that it and its subsidiary Energenius Srl had been awarded the implementation of a monitoring system for all Italian shopping centers of Eurocommercial Properties, which closed in %.

The project involves the extension of the existing monitoring system, also installed by Energenius, to allow real-time monitoring of electricity consumption of all common areas and businesses in the center. The system will also monitor the consumption of gas, water, air conditioning, lighting, and waste produced in all common spaces, and will track the production and use of energy generated for centers equipped with photovoltaic systems as well as the calculation of CO2 produced.

CY4Gate gave up 0.5 percent. The SME signed a major contract with a European institutional customer to supply its decision intelligence systems worth about EUR7 million and lasting 36 months.

Cy4Gate "will provide cutting-edge technology," the company explains in a note, "to aggregate information from heterogeneous sources to meet the specific needs of institutional clients, enabling them to use the big data they hold more efficiently and effectively. These are state-of-the-art decision support tools, characterized by a high degree of automation and a remarkable ability to enrich information and visualize it through intuitive and user-friendly dashboards."

In New York, the Dow closed ahead 0.4 percent, the Nasdaq up 0.2 percent, and the S&P 500 advanced 0.4 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0779 versus USD1.0772 recorded at Monday's European stock close, while the pound was worth USD1.2571 from USD1.2664 on Monday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD76.46 per barrel versus USD76.40 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,986.55 an ounce from USD1,992.90 an ounce last night.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar includes the Zew index on sentiment in the Eurozone and Germany at 1100 CET, and an hour later will come the U.S. small business optimism report.

In the morning, auctions of three-month Spanish Letras, five-year British Gilt and one-year Italian BOTs will be held.

In the afternoon, at 1430 CET, eyes will be on U.S. inflation while, at 1800 CET, will come the EIA's short-term energy forecast. At 2230 CET, the day will close with data on weekly oil stocks.

Among the companies in the Square Business, no special events are expected.

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News senior reporter

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