031112_ sintesi mensili eng

In October, the Mib index was characterised by an initial growth phase in which it almost reached the highs for the year, followed by a slight drop and then a subsequent recovery, which - with 17 positive sessions and 6 negative sessions - led it to close the month at 18,810, up by 4.2% since the end of September (+10.9% since the end of 2002 and +26.5% since the annual low on 12 March).

The Nuovo Mercato Numex index was affected by a similar trend, reaching a level of 1,595 on Thursday 30 October, just under the high for the year of 1,609 achieved on 4 September, and closing the month at 1,590, a monthly rise of 6.2% (+21.6% since the end of 2002).

The continuous indices grew at substantially similar rates: Mibtel +4.9% (+10.7% compared with the end of 2002), S&P/Mib +5.5% (+10.5%), Mib30 +4.9% (+8.7%) and Midex 6.0% (+22.1%). The MibSTAR index achieved an identical performance in October to the general index (4.2%), bringing its own growth since the end of 2002 to 11.8%.

The three macrosectors achieved slightly different performances in October: Financial +5.2%, Industrial +4.6% and Services +2.0%, which, compared with the end of 2002, represented a rise of +20.5% for Financial, +7.0% for Services and +1.3% for Industrial. Of the main sectors (representing at least 1% of the capitalisation) the performances of note were, on the one hand, Textiles (+10.3%) and Media-Publishing (+6.8%) and, on the other hand, Auto (-0.3%) and Property (+0.1%). Compared with the end of last year, the most significant changes were seen, on the one hand, in Transportation-Tourism (+31.7%) and Banking (+26.9%) and, on the other, in Minerals-Metals-Petroleum (-9.4%) and Plant-Machinery (-1.1%).

Those S&P/Mib index shares that achieved the best performance in October were E.Biscom (+20.3%), Benetton Group (+14.0%), Capitalia (+13.7%) and Bnl (+13.1%) whilst those recording losses include Saipem (-2.6%), Snam Rete Gas (-2.4%) and Pirelli & C. (-2.2%). Compared with the end of 2002, positive figures have been achieved by Capitalia (+98.2%), Bnl (+86.2%) and Bulgari (+76.9%) whilst those posting negative results are Eni (-9.8%), Tim (-8.6%) and Fiat (-6.5%). In the period January-October 2003, 32 shares show positive results and 5 negative, whilst the remaining three (Autostrade, Banche Popolari Unite and Seat Pagine Gialle) are all newly admitted companies.

Volatility fell once again to a figure of 9.7% for the Stock Exchange (where the STAR segment volatility remains significantly lower at 7.2%) and 13.7% for the Nuovo Mercato.

The increase in share prices boosted the capitalisation of Italian listed companies in October, which rose from €450.5 billion at the end of September to €468.1 billion (representing 35.9% of GDP and higher than the figure of €458.0 billion posted at the end of 2002). In detail, a breakdown of the markets shows the Stock Exchange with a figure of €455.7 billion, the Nuovo Mercato at €7.8 billion and the Mercato Ristretto at €4.6 billion.

Eni proved to be the listed share with the highest capitalisation (€54.6 billion), followed by Tim (33.3), Enel (32.8), Unicredito Italiano (26.7), Generali (25.2) and Telecom Italia (23.1).

In October, the list was affected on Tuesday 7th by the transfer of Banca Ifis shares from the Mercato Ristretto to the Stock Exchange and on Thursday 30th by the delisting of Italdesign Giugiaro, following the conclusion of the residual takeover bid.

The number of listed companies was therefore 279: 224 on the Stock Exchange (including 6 foreign companies), 44 on the Nuovo Mercato (2 foreign) and 11 on the Mercato Ristretto.

Following 729 admissions and 50 delistings, the number of instruments listed on the MCW rose from 1,611 to 2,290.

In October, two public offers were carried out both with the aim of admission for trading. Isagro's offer (27-30 October), entirely for the subscription of new shares, led to the distribution of 25.0% of the capital and raised €15.9 million. Trevisan's offer (29-31 October), 75% subscription, 25% sale, led to the distribution of 50.2% of the capital and raised €34.2 million.

During the month, the capital increase operation for the Gruppo Coin was completed raising a total of €79 million. The percentage of unexercised rights was extremely low (0.9%). Three other takeover bids were also completed: Wide Design's residual takeover bid for Italdesign Giugiaro (71.7% of the shares requested were handed over in an operation worth €11.4 million), Roland Corporation's voluntary takeover bid for Roland Europe (53.9% and €7.3 million) and Arena Holding's compulsory takeover bid for Roncandin (with only 2,225 shares handed over out of a total of 88.9 million).

In October, trading in shares (147,700 contacts and €2.62 billion a day) fell compared with the previous month (-14.0% for contracts, -10.9% for turnover).

In the period January-October, the daily average was 149,300 contracts and turnover of €2.68 billion (-4.3% and +8.7% on the corresponding period in 2002). In detail, in October the daily average was 136,800 contracts and €2.57 billion for shares listed on the Stock Exchange and 10,600 contracts and €47.1 million for Nuovo Mercato shares.

The average size of stock contracts (Stock Exchange, daytime trading) continued its upwards trend rising from €18,800 in September to €19,000, slightly below the average for the current year. The average size of contracts for daytime trading in Nuovo Mercato shares also rose, from €4,100 to €4,500.

STMicroelectronics was by far the most traded share in the month in terms of turnover, with 19.2% of total trading, followed by Eni (9.5%), Tim (8.0%) and Telecom Italia (7.8%).

Trading in covered warrants continued its recovery both in terms of turnover (daily average €61.6 million, +9.4% on September) and in terms of traded contracts (18,000 per day, +4.7% on September). In the period January-October, the daily average was 17,500 contracts and €41.0 million.

Trading turnover in the month was the highest since July 2002.

After hours trading remained at the levels achieved in the previous month, with a daily average of €35.5 million and 4,900 contracts. In the period January-October, the daily average was €28.5 million and 5,100 contracts.

ETS, traded since the end of September 2002, recorded a daily average of 257 contracts and €7.3 million in October. The average size of contracts went back up to 28,300, confirming the growing participation of retail investors.

Trading in fixed-income securities on the Mot increased to €668 million (highest level since June 2002, +22.8% on September, +16.9% on October 2002) and to €32.7 million (+4.0% and 5.4%) for private bonds. In the period January-October 2003, the daily average for trading in Government securities reached €527 million, whilst the average for private bonds was €36.2 million. The EuroMOT also saw an increase in trading, with a daily average of €14.1 million (+1.3% on September and +50.7% on October 2002). In the period January-October 2003, average daily turnover was €14.8 million, +59.7% compared with the corresponding period last year

On the Idem market, futures on the Mib30 recorded a daily average of 14,600 standard contracts, the MiniFIB fell to 8,600 standard contracts per day and options on the Mib30 achieved an average of 8,600 standard contracts. Trading in stock futures was stable at an average of 1,200 standard contracts per day whilst stock options decreased from the high values seen in the previous month to an average of 28,900 standard contracts.

In the period January-October, the daily average of the Idem was 71,900 standard contracts, an increase of 6.6% on the corresponding period in 2002. Futures on the Mib30 (17,500 standard contracts per day, -9.7%) were down, options on the Mib30 (10,000 and -1.0%) remained stable whilst the MiniFIB (10,800, +31.1%), stock options (31,700, +6.8%) and stock futures (2,000, +409.7%) all achieved increases, although it must be remembered that the latter have only been traded since July 2002.

Milan, 12 November 2003

The Monthly Summary newsletter, containing all the details for the month of October, can be downloaded from the following address: http://www.borsaitalia.it/servlet/HomeController?target=Search&family=1&lang=en