(Alliance News) – On Friday, the major Eurozone markets closed sharply lower, paring back gains made the previous day.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, non-farm employment increased by 22,000 units in August, down from 79,000 in July. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in August, as expected, up from 4.2% in July.

In the Old Continent, seasonally adjusted Gross Domestic Product increased by 0.1% in the Eurozone and by 0.2% in the EU in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to estimates released Friday by Eurostat.

Against this backdrop, the FTSE Mib closed down 0.9% at 41,607.81 points, the Mid-Cap fell 0.3% to 55,324.03, the Small-Cap edged up 0.1% to 34,368.01, and the Italy Growth index finished just above flat at 8,474.79 points.

Elsewhere, Paris’ CAC 40 fell 0.3%, Frankfurt’s DAX 40 was down 0.8%, and London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.1%.

“Traders,” commented IG’s Chris Beauchamp, “are grappling with a mix of relief at today’s confirmation of a rate cut in September and concern that a period of weak jobs growth could herald future stagnation.”

“There is still plenty of room for the traditional September volatility to kick in, despite the Fed’s upcoming rate cut. Investors,” added the Chief Market Analyst, “should remember there are two types of rate cuts: last September’s was a positive one, in a context of economic strengthening.”

“Today’s market action suggests the next cut could be of the other kind, aimed at supporting an economy already in recession,” Beauchamp concluded.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, STMicroelectronics led the gainers, up 3.8% to EUR22.81 per share, followed by Interpump, which rose 2.5%, Amplifon up 1.2%, and Pirelli up 1.1%. The latter will move to the Mid-Cap at the end of the month.

Enel did not fare well, slipping 0.1% to EUR7.841 per share. Notably, Bernstein raised its target price to EUR8.50 from EUR8.30, maintaining an ‘outperform’ rating.

Eni dropped 2.0%. Together with BP, it will invest about USD5 billion in Angola over the next five years through Azule Energy, their 50-50 joint venture operating in the country.

On the banking front, Mediobanca’s board on Thursday reaffirmed its rejection of an acquisition offer from Monte dei Paschi di Siena, judging even the new proposal insufficient to reflect the bank’s value.

Meanwhile, take-up of the OPS has reached 40.43% of Mediobanca’s capital. Mediobanca shares gained 0.3%, as did MPS.

UniCredit ended the session down 2.4% at EUR64.92 per share. CEO Andrea Orcel confirmed the intention to raise UniCredit’s stake in Commerzbank to 30% by year-end.

The Antitrust authority has approved Poste Italiane’s acquisition of a 24.8% stake in Telecom Italia, a deal cleared without conditions or the opening of a formal investigation.

Poste closed just below flat at EUR19.725, while Telecom Italia slipped 1.0%.

FinecoBank reported net inflows of EUR842 million, up 19% from EUR706 million a year ago. The stock dropped 0.7%.

At the bottom of the main index were Tenaris, down 3.1%, and Saipem, down 3.2%.

On the Mid-Cap, Juventus Football Club enjoyed a good session, rising 1.7%. Piaggio outperformed all, climbing 3.5% to EUR2.050 per share.

Sanlorenzo advanced 2.5% after reporting Thursday a group net result of EUR46.6 million for the first half, up 7.0% from EUR43.6 million in H1 2024.

Lottomatica slipped 1.2%. Notably, from September 22, it will trade in the blue-chip index, replacing Pirelli.

MFE A advanced 2.4%, MFE B rose 1.6%. The Berlusconi family’s company secured over three-quarters of the voting shares in ProSiebenSat.1 Media, finally gaining control of the German TV giant.

ERG–up 0.2%–announced Thursday it had signed three Power Purchase Agreements with the FS Group for a total supply of 1.2 TWh of renewable energy starting October 1.

Iren closed flat at EUR2.55 per share. The water service contract for Ato2, covering Vercelli, Biella, and Casale, was awarded to Bcv Acque, a public in-house company controlled by local and Monferrato managers. Iren is expected to receive EUR60 million in compensation as the outgoing operator.

At the bottom of the secondary index were Cembre, down 3.2%, and SOL, which lost 3.1%.

Banca Generali fell 0.9% after reporting net inflows of EUR471 million in August, up 25% year-on-year, showing strong volumes for the period.

On the Small-Cap list, the most active stocks included Bestbe Holding up 6.1%, SYS-DAT up 5.9%, and SIT up 4.9%.

Aeroporto Guglielmo Marconi di Bologna–up 0.5%–announced Thursday that it handled 1.1 million passengers in August, down 0.9% from the same month in 2024.

Sabaf climbed 0.4%, reporting its half-year financial statement as of June 30, with adjusted net profit at EUR6.7 million, down from EUR10.1 million in H1 2024.

Centrale del Latte d’Italia continued to attract buyers, advancing 1.6%. Among the worst performers were Softlab, which dropped 2.7%, and Tessellis, down 5.3%.

Among SMEs, after a strong start, Eprcomunicazione–having surged by double digits the previous day–closed flat at EUR1.59 per share.

Leading the alternative index were Convergenze, up 6.7%, and E-Globe, up 7.6%. Valica posted a 12% gain to EUR4.02 per share.

Mare Engineering Group–up 0.6%–announced Friday it had received approval from the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy for the three-year “Innova-AI” project, worth about EUR4.1 million.

Among the laggards at the bottom of the alternative list was 4AIM Sicaf compartment 2 crowdfunding, which slumped 14%.

Monnalisa dropped 5.0% after signing with banks on a restructuring and relaunch plan approved by the new management.

In New York, the Dow Jones was down 0.5%, the Nasdaq slipped 0.2%, and the S&P 500 retreated 0.5%.

On the currency front, the euro traded at USD1.1744, up from USD1.1642 at Thursday’s equity close, while the pound traded at USD1.3528, up from USD1.3433 last night.

In commodities, Brent crude traded at USD65.48 per barrel, down from USD67.12 at Thursday’s equity close, while gold was worth USD3,584.53 an ounce, up from USD3,546.96 an ounce last night.

Looking ahead to Monday’s economic calendar, at 0500 CEST, China’s import and export data are due, while Germany’s figures and industrial production are expected at 0800 CEST.

At 1030 CEST, the Sentix investor confidence index for the Eurozone is due, followed at 1500 CEST by the French BTF auction with 3- and 6-month maturities.

At 1600 CEST, the US employment trends index will be released.

From Piazza Affari, half-year results are expected from Aeroporto Marconi di Bologna, NewPrinces, Valsoia, and three other companies.

By Michele Cirulli, Alliance News Reporter

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