(Alliance News) - Tuesday, at the height of trading, European markets continue to move in positive territory pushed by Eurozone current account data that widened the surplus in June and with Milan and Paris doing best of all.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is up 1.1 percent to 28,285.73, the Mid-Cap is up 0.7 percent to 41,434.50, the Small-Cap gains 0.4 percent to 26,868.96, and Italy Growth rises 0.1 percent to 8,856.96.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 rises 0.6 percent to 7,303.63, Paris' CAC 40 is up 1.2 percent to 7,283.27 and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 1.0 percent to 15,755.58.

In macroeconomic news, the Eurozone's current account posted a surplus of EUR36 billion in June, up from EUR8 billion in the previous month, the European Central Bank reported Tuesday.

In addition, surpluses were recorded for goods of EUR39 billion, services of EUR8 billion and primary income of EUR4 billion. These were partly offset by a deficit for secondary income of EUR15 billion.

In the 12 months to June, the current account posted a deficit of EUR9 billion -- or 0.1 percent of eurozone GDP -- compared with a surplus of EUR123 billion -- or 1.0 percent of eurozone GDP -- a year earlier.

On the blue chip list, it takes the top spot for Prysmian, up 4.7% after announcing that it has been selected by TSO Amprion, one of Europe's leading transmission system operators, as the preferred bidder for the two BalWin1 and BalWin2 offshore grid connection systems and the DC34 onshore cable project.

The preferred bidder agreement includes an obligation for the parties to negotiate in good faith the yet-to-be-defined points of the projects, with the goal of entering into final contracts by January 15, 2024. Prysmian has committed to reserve the required production and installation capacity until that date. The contracts have a total value of about EUR4.5 billion.

These three projects are part of Germany's overall plan to install 70 GW of offshore wind power by 2045 and will allow power generated in the North Sea to be transmitted to consumers in the country's western and southern regions.

In a bullish prevailing list--except for Telecom Italia, Saipem, Leonardo and BPER Bank, down between 0.8 percent and 0.2 percent.

On the buyback front, Iveco rises 0.3 percent after buying back EUR1.1 million worth of its own shares; UniCredit gains 0.9 percent after buybacks of EUR78.1 million; and Inwit marks a 0.5 percent rise after taking back EUR3 million worth of its own shares.

On the Mid-Cap, GVS leads the list with a 2.5 percent rise, followed by Piaggio, up 2.3 percent and grappling with the appointment of a new chairman and CEO after the passing of Roberto Colaninno late last week.

At the tail end of the list are MFE's A shares, down 0.8%. Also down 0.4 percent are B shares at EUR0.67 each.

Among the small-cap companies, SS Lazio rises 3.1% after closing a number of market transactions that overshadowed its debut league defeat at home to Lecce.

Bioera gains 2.0 percent after announcing that, at the request of Golden Eagle Capital Advisors, five convertible bonds part of the first tranche of the convertible bond cum warrant subscribed by the investor were subject to conversion.

The first tranche of the POC consisted of 50 convertible bonds with a total value of EUR500,000, and following the conversion, two bonds within the first tranche still remain to be converted.

Doing best of all is Triboo, up 3.3 percent, while at the tail end is SAES Getters, down 2.6 percent.

Among Milan-listed SMEs, Visibilia Editore leads the list, up 25 percent, while Notorious Pictures, which had opened up 18 percent, now gives up 0.8 percent.

Circle is flat. The company announced Monday that it has signed a contract with yet another leading port in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The value of the order is approximately EUR135,000 and the duration of the assignment is nine months.

"Building on its know-how in the last port mile, Circle will support the port in question in the development of new Port Community Services aimed at optimizing the intermodal and trucking component," the company said.

Innovatec gives up 0.8 percent despite the fact that Modefinance, an Italian rating agency registered with ESMA, has confirmed a public 'B1+' rating to its creditworthiness.

"This rating - equivalent, on the basis of the current mapping, to the 'BBB+' rating of the main international rating agencies - represents a higher score than the minimum required to consider the company's issues investment grade," the company explained in a note.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Tuesday up 0.9 percent to 31,856.71, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.9 percent to 3,120.33, and the Hang Seng gained 1.0 percent to 17,791.01.

In New York, the Dow Jones closed Monday's session down 0.1 percent to 34,463.69, the Nasdaq gaudagned 1.6 percent to 13,497.59 and the S&P 500 rose 0.7 percent to 4,399.77.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0907 versus USD1.0887 in Monday's closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2774 from USD1.2735 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD84.17 per barrel versus USD85.39 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,931.75 an ounce from USD1,889.12 an ounce on Monday evening.

On Tuesday's economic calendar, at 1330 CEST, from the U.S., it will be the turn of FOMC member Barkin's speech, then at 1600 CEST the sale of existing homes will follow while at 2030 CEST the Fed's Bowman speech is scheduled, in conjunction with the release of weekly oil stocks data.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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