MILAN (Thomson Financial) - Milan shares were lower midday in line with other European markets in reaction to weaker closes on Asian markets, dealers said
At 12.45 pm the Mibtel index was down 0.92 pct at 33,339 while the S&P/Mib index fell 0.97 pct at 42,867 on volumes worth some 4.479 bln eur.
'There is a correction on large-cap stocks due to the fall in Asian markets and ahead of technical expiries which are causing portfolio adjustment,' said one dealer, referring to tomorrow's expiry of futures on shares and options.
Nuovi Investimenti Sim analyst Davide Manenti still sees 'room to correct' even though 'the strong signals on the European economy make us confident that in the next few months the phase will still be positive.'
Telecom Italia, up 0.32 pct at 2.352 eur, saw the heaviest volumes after reports that Telefonica could offer to buy a 66 pct stake in Olimpia, the holding that owns 18 pct of Telecom Italia, valuing Telecom Italia shares at some 3.0 eur per share.
Pirelli, which owns 80 pct of Olimpia, was down 0.03 pct at 0.899.
The market is betting 'that someone will arrive' for the Olimpia stake, Manenti said.
Mediaset was up 0.07 pct at 8.39 as chairman Fedele Confalonieri told shareholders currently meeting the media group was 'a natural and authoritative interlocutor' for a tie-up with Telecom Italia.
Leading the decline was Buzzi Unicem, down 2.61 pct at 22.79 and Alitalia, down 2.49 pct at 0.925.
Lamberto Cardia, chairman of market watchdog Consob spoke of Alitalia's share price movement in a House and Senate hearing, saying that the heavy trading as 'really unusual' amid press reports say Consob is investigating the recent share price movements.
STMicro reduced losses after Nokia, one of STMicro's largest clients, reported first quarter results that were in-line with market forecasts.
Shares in STMicro were down 1.74 pct at 14.91, after touching a low of 14.7.
Among banking shares, Mediobanca lost 1.51 pct at 16.56, Intesa Sanpaolo shed 1.41 pct at 5.855 while Capitalia was down 1.00 pct at 7.0 as its AGM is underway.
Banca CR Firenze was up 1.2 pct at 5.67, ahead of the meeting of the strategy committee of its main shareholder that was brought forward to tomorrow from April 26 and that is expected to decide on the bank's strategic options.
The options include a merger with Intesa Sanpaolo and a strategic alliance with BNP Paribas.
Unicredito fell 1.2 pct at as the market is again betting on merger and acquisition activity, focusing possibly on France's Societe Generale.
Among insurers Unipol fell 1.41 pct to 5.855, Generali shed 1.11 pct at 32.95 and Fondiaria-Sai fell 0.85 pct to 38.41.
Bucking this trend was Alleanza, a unit of Generali, as speculation mounted that at Tuesday's AGM the insurer may announce plans to use its excess capital even though the group's CEO yesterday said no decision had been made yet.
Alleanza shares were up 2.15 pct at 10.09. According to some dealers there were also rumours that Generali would buy out minorities in Alleanza.
Elsewhere on the market, Lottomatica fell 1.11 pct to 30.3 even though CA Cheuvreux upgraded it to its 'selected list' from a previous 'outperform' rating with the target price raised to 36.5 eur from 33 eur previously.
Fiat was up 0.1 pct at 20.07, levels not seen since September 2001, ahead of first quarter results expected Monday.
According to dealers, the consensus compiled by the company on the basis of estimates of 16 analysts sees the group's trading profit rising to some 475 mln eur from 323 mln in the same period of 2006 and to 120 mln for Fiat Auto from 57 mln. yael.schrage@thomson.com ysc/jlw 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
