MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Milan shares were slightly higher outpacing other European markets, with gains in the luxury sector, selective financial stocks and utilities as well as Alitalia leading gains and volumes at mid-day almost exceeding those seen in the full trading session yesterday.
At 12.35 am, the Mibtel index was 0.59 pct higher at 31,805 while the S&P/Mib added 0.56 pct to 40,908, levels not seen since the end of July, on volumes worth some 4.226 bln eur, against 4.907 bln traded in all of yesterday.
'The pick up in trading volumes is very positive,' one dealer said, while others noted that there were still few trading ideas and that all eyes were on the US open.
Leading gains was the luxury sector with Luxottica up 4.25 pct at 25.76 eur and Safilo adding 4.83 pct to 3.5725 after Citigroup started coverage with a 'buy' stance on both stocks and target prices respectively of 30.5 eur and 4.4 eur.
Bulgari rose 0.89 pct to 11.40.
Alitalia was also a leading gainer, up 3.15 pct at 0.844 after the company said it would pursue contacts with six group to ascertain their interest in buying a stake in the ailing airline. According to reports, Alitalia chairman Maurizio Prato told unions he was confident on finding a buyer within one month.
Among utilities, AEM added 2.25 pct to 2.7975 while its merger partner ASM Brescia added 1.71 pct to 4.585, while Enel added 0.62 pct to 8.085.
In the industrial sector, Fiat added 1.77 pct at 22.46 on general optimism for the outlook of the group, while Finmeccanica rose 1.43 pct to 20.53 after a positive report from Morgan Stanley according to which recent weakness is overdone considering the group's stronger earnings prospects than its peers.
Seat Pagine Gialle was also a leading gainer, adding 3.22 pct to 0.401 with dealers not having a clear explanation for the rise.
According to one analyst, the shares were recovering after the recent sell-off, with the share touching yesterday levels not seen since the end of August.
In the financial sector Unipol added 1.95 pct to 2.61 as JP Morgan initiated coverage with an 'overweight' stance and a 3.30 eur target price, while Banca Popolare di Milano rose 1.87 pct to 10.69 eur. The bank's strategic committee is set to meet tomorrow to discuss alliance candidates, with Unipol said to be among the potential partners.
Bucking the rising trend was Banco Popolare, which shed 0.76 pct to 17.31, but according to one dealer at these levels, the bank 'is among the less expensive in Italy and in Europe and can go back to the 20.0 eur area, making these levels good buying opportunities.'
There was also profit taking on Italcementi, which led the index higher in the past few days, after UBS kept its 'neutral' stance unchanged on the stock but cut the target price from 27 eur to 19 eur. The share was trading up 0.01 pct at 17.40. yael.schrage@thomson.com ysc/lam COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
© 2007 AFX News
