(updating with details on single stocks)
MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Milan shares ended higher but came off earlier highs following the lacklustre start on Wall Street, with Alitalia outperforming on renewed takeover hopes.
The Mibtel index ended 0.68 pct higher at 30,185 while the S&P/Mib ended up 0.51 pct at 38,909. Volumes were more in line with their normal summer average at around 5.232 bln eur compared to the 9.414 bln eur traded Friday.
Alitalia rose 5.49 pct to 0.84 eur as the market speculated on renewed hopes the ailing airline could soon find a partner.
Media reports today said Alitalia's board will meet at the end of this month to discuss a new business plan that envisages drastic cuts to intercontinental flights in favour of more East European connections and reviews the position of the Malpensa airport as a hub. Some analysts said this could indicate the group is preparing an alliance or merger with Air France-KLM.
Some reports have also said Air France is interested in teaming up with private equity companies like Texas Pacific to buy 29-30 pct of Alitalia. Meanwhile a new consortium of Italian businessmen is reportedly taking shape and could meet Wednesday to discuss its plans.
Finmeccanica rose 3.04 pct to 19.87 eur on optimism it will receive new orders at the MAKS air show starting today in Moscow. The group's CEO today said his group will take a smaller-than-expected stake in the Airbus A350 programme of around 3-4 pct instead of the 6-10 pct previously mooted. The stock, which was punished in last week's market turbulence, was also supported by the upgrade to 'hold' from 'sell' by Societe Generale which issued a 20 eur target price.
Tenaris, which makes steel pipes for the energy sector, was up 3.0 pct at 16.6 eur, in step with a firm European steel sector and the solid performance of its rival Villourec.
Fiat rose 2.02 pct to 18.43 eur after last week's sharp losses on fears the sub-prime mortgage scare could impact economic growth. Despite its recent losses the stock is still up around 25 pct since the beginning of the year.
Parmalat rose 1.87 pct to 2.47 eur after JP Morgan said it has a potential stake in the group of around 5.1 pct.
Capitalia and Unicredito Italiano, scheduled to merge later this year, rose 1.86 pct and 1.13 pct respectively to 6.85 eur and 6.18 following recent losses. 'There are some arbitrage opportunities between Capitalia and Unicredito shares,' one Milan-based dealer said.
The two banks were underpinned by a Lehman Brothers upgrade of the financial sector from 'neutral' to 'overweight' in which the broker added Unicredito and Intesa Sanpaolo to its European recommended portfolio.
Fondiaria SAI, which has a big auto insurance business, rose 1.17 pct to 33.85 eur after a consumer association said it sees car insurance policies growing 4.1 pct year-end compared to year-end 2006.
Insurer Unipol also performed well, up 1.73 pct at 2.34 eur.
Enel rose 0.41 pct to 7.35 eur following reports its management is set to meet France's EDF early September to discuss the Italian group's plans in France.
Seat Pagine Gialle lost 1.41 pct to 0.37 eur on concerns that a credit crunch might affect the highly indebted company.
Banco Popolare fell 0.30 pct to 17.91 eur following reports that the former head of Banca Popolare Italiana, which merged with BPVN to form Banco Popolare, told magistrates recently that BPI had undisclosed losses on its balance sheet of around 400 mln eur. stephen.jewkes@thomson.com sj/slm/sj/slj COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
© 2007 AFX News
