MILAN (AFX) – Share prices were flat at midday as some stocks suffered from a bout of profit-taking after recent gains, but Telecom Italia outperformed on expectations of stake-building in the company, dealers said.
At 12.16 pm, the Mibtel index rose 0.02 pct to 30,014 points and the S&P/Mib dropped 0.03 pct to 39,313.
Telecom Italia added 2.32 pct to 2.29 eur. A newspaper report said the businessman Romain Zaleski has bought a small stake in the company.
It added that the Ligresti family could also be interested in investing in the company.
Pirelli rose 0.97 pct to 0.6995. The company has a controlling stake in Telecom Italia.
Fastweb fell 0.95 pct to 37.50. ABN Amro initiated the stock with a ‘buy’ recommendation and a 47 eur target price.
Tiscali dropped 2.31 pct to 2.365 after the release of its 2007-2010 business plan. The company aims to focus on its Italian and UK businesses but only expects to achieve a net profit in 2008.
Mediolanum gained 1.52 pct to 6.16 eur, but was off a high of 6.28, after CA Cheuvreux upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘underperform’. The broker also increased its target price to 6.8 eur from 5.7.
Unipol added 1.99 pct to 2.688 after S&P said the stock will replace RAS in the S&P/Mib on Friday.
Banca Intesa rose 1.23 pct to 5.605. The bank is expected to reach an agreement today to sell assets to Credit Agricole.
Sanpaolo gained 0.61 pct to 17.77. Sanpaolo and Banca Intesa’s boards are scheduled to meet tomorrow to clear the banks’ merger.
Popolare Italiana fell 1.13 pct to 10.37. Deutsche Bank rated the stock a ‘hold’ with a 10.2 eur target price.
Mediaset dropped 0.52 pct to 8.595 after being initiated with an ‘underweight’ recommendation by HSBC. The broker has a 7.7 eur target price for Mediaset.
Alitalia dropped 2.53 pct to 0.808 after the government reportedly told unions that the airline’s results are out of control.
ASM Brescia fell 1.93 pct to 3.96 after CA Cheuvreux dropped ASM Brescia from its selected list and downgraded it to ‘underperform’. It sees the stock as ‘fully valued.’
It has a 3.9 eur target price for the stock.
‘In our view, AEM now looks like a better way to play the upcoming AEM-ASM merger,’ the French broker said.
Source- http://www.forbes.com