(Alliance News) - European stock markets are headed for an upward opening Tuesday, extending gains from the previous session, as investors await preliminary data on Eurozone and German manufacturing and services activity for April to be released later in the day.

"The data will highlight the growing divergence between the U.S., where the manufacturing sector is gaining further momentum in expansion territory, and Germany, which is still deep in contraction territory with the manufacturing PMI hovering between 41-43. The PMI data is unlikely to prove wrong those betting on a divergence between Federal Reserve and European Central Bank policies and should favor a further slide in the EURUSD toward the 1.05 level," commented Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Thus, according to IG futures, the FTSE Mib is expected to be in the green by 90.0 points or 0.3 percent after closing in the red by 0.6 percent at 33,724.82.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is up 27.1 points or 0.3 percent, London's FTSE 100 is expected up 36.3 points or 0.5 percent while Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 109.0 points or 0.6 percent.

Among Italy's smaller listings on Monday evening, the Mid-Cap closed in the red 0.2 percent to 45,939.49, the Small-Cap up 0.4 percent to 27,913.14 while Italy Growth finished in the green 0.1 percent to 8,056.48.

On the Mib, DiaSorin closed in appreciation of 4.1 percent to EUR94.94 per share, following the green with which it closed Friday evening. Of note, HSBC cut its target price to EUR110.00 from EUR115.00 with a 'buy' recommendation.

Good buys also on Banca Monte de Paschi, up 3.1 percent, following a 0.9 percent decline in the previous session.

Iveco Group remained at the bottom as at the opening, giving up 2.2%. The company's board of directors announced that Olof Persson will replace Gerrit Marx in the role of group CEO effective July 1, when Gerrit Marx will leave Iveco Group to take over as CEO at CNH Industrial.

Brunello Cucinelli left 1.3 percent on the parterre, in its third session in the red.

On the Mid-Cap, OVS rose 2.9 percent. The company announced Thursday that it ended the year ended Jan. 31, 2024 with a reported net profit of EUR52.4 million, up from EUR39.6 million in the same period last year. The board of directors proposed a dividend of EUR0.07 from EUR0.06 as of Jan. 31, 2023. Net sales stood at EUR1.54 billion from EUR1.51 billion as of January 31, 2023.

MARR, on the other hand, rallied 5.7 percent, closing for the fourth session in a row with a bullish trend.

Juventus Football Club - in the green by 2.1 percent - on the other hand, broke its five-session bearish mini-trend.

Webuild, on the other hand, gave up 2.9 percent, following Friday night's 1.2 percent red.

On the Small-Cap, Alkemy closed down 6.8 percent, after Friday evening's flat session, bringing the price down to EUR10.30.

CSP International - in the red by 5.2 percent - reported that it ended 2023 with a net profit of EUR100,000, down from EUR500,000 as of December 31, 2022. Sales in the period stood at EUR91.6 million from EUR94.2 million in 2022.

Bialetti Industrie gave up 3.1 percent after rising more than 14 percent after reporting that it ended 2023 with revenues up 6.1 percent to EUR141.2 million from EUR133.1 million a year earlier. Ebitda increased to EUR19.2 million from EUR16.1 million a year earlier while operating income rose to EUR14.9 million from EUR11.1 million in 2022.

Tessellis -- in the green by 19 percent -- reported Friday that it had received a notice from Jefferies Financial Group Inc. in connection with the acquisition of the indirect controlling interest. Specifically, Jefferies Financial Group notified the company of the acquisition of the majority of voting rights in Opnet - which holds 59.26 percent of Tessellis' share capital - through its subsidiary BEI Italia Wireless, following the conversion of convertible preferred shares into ordinary shares, held by BEI Italia Wireless in Opnet.

IGD - in the green by 6.2 percent - announced Thursday that its board of directors, appointed earlier in the day by the shareholders' meeting for the three-year period 2024 - 2026, elected Antonio Rizzi as chairman of the board of directors, Edy Gambetti as vice chairman and Roberto Zoia as managing director and general manager.

Among SMEs, Redelfi - in the green by 2.8 percent - announced on Monday that it has signed, through its wholly owned U.S.-registered subsidiary Redelfi Corporation, with Elio Energy Group LLC, a U.S. developer already a partner in BESS Power Corporation, the operating agreements for the development of an additional 2.4 GW of Battery Energy Storage System projects in the U.S. territory. The new pipeline will be developed by the U.S.-registered newco Redelio Renewables LLC, in which Redelfi Corp. and Elio Group have a 50 percent stake, respectively.

Espe, on the other hand, gave up 4.2 percent, in its third bearish session. The company reported Wednesday that it closed fiscal year 2023 with a profit of EUR1.6 million, up from EUR200,000 a year earlier. Value of production rose to EUR59.4 million from EUR45.1 million as of Dec. 31, 2022 while sales revenue amounted to EUR42.7 million from EUR36.5 million in 2022.

Gismondi 1754 rose 1.8 percent after it reported that it ended the first quarter of the year with sales revenues of EUR4.4 million, up 5.0 percent from EUR4.2 million in Q1 2023.

Franchi Umberto Marmi advanced 7.1 percent, bringing the price to the EUR6.05 area. A high trading voume of 12,000 pieces was reported on the stock, compared to a three-month daily average of about 4,600.

In contrast, Fervi advanced 3.5 percent, with price at EUR18.00 per share, on its third bullish candle session.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed in the green by 0.3 percent, the Hang Seng rose 1.6 percent, and the Shanghai Composite gave up 0.8 percent.

In New York, the Dow Jones finished up 0.7 percent at 38,239.98, while the S&P is closed in the green 0.9 percent at 5,010.60 and the Nasdaq ended the session up 1.1 percent at 15,451.31.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0643 from USD1.0644 on Monday in European equities closing while the pound was worth USD1.2336 from USD1.2337 on Monday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD87.24 a barrel from USD87.05 a barrel Monday evening and gold trades at USD2,306.63 an ounce from USD2,335.71 an ounce Monday evening.

Tuesday's macro calendar features Germany's manufacturing PMI at 0930 CEST, while the Eurozone PMI will arrive at 1000 CEST.

At 1030 CEST, on the other hand, will come the UK manufacturing PMI.

At 1400 CEST from the U.S. will come the data on building permits and at 1545 CEST the PMI of tertiary sector purchases, while at 2230 CEST will come the data on weekly oil stocks.

At Piazza Affari, the quarterly results of Eni and Fervi, among others, are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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