An uncertain future lies ahead for Italy's macroeconomy.

The Piazza Affari index is expected to decline slightly at the opening of trading on Wednesday, in line with the choppy trend seen on other European bourses.

FTSE Mib is down 35.0 points or 0.1 percent after closing down 0.1 percent at 29,376.74 on Tuesday evening. London's FTSE 100 is expected down 24.1 points or 0.3 percent, Paris' CAC 40 is in the red by 12.5 points or 0.2 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is expected up 8.2 points or less than 0.1 percent.

InMilan yesterday, Mid-Cap rose 0.3 percent to 41,748.09 points, Small-Cap closed just above parity at 25,990.80 and Italy Growth rose 0.3 percent to 7,887.42 points.

In the main market Piazza Affari, Iveco Group, one of the few bullish assets, rose 2.6 percent after announcing on Monday that the European Investment Bank has provided funding of up to 500 million euros to promote electrification, efficiency and safety in the transportation sector by investing in research, development and innovation.

Good buys were also made on ERG, which confirmed positive momentum since opening. The stock closed with a 1.6 percent rise to 26.14 euros per share, ending the third session in a row on a positive note. Banca Monte dei Paschi also showed positive dynamics with an increase of 1.2 percent. On the stock, Marshall Wace reduced his short position from 0.83 percent to 0.74 percent. On the other hand, Inwit posted a 3.5 percent growth, leading all. The company, which has been making steady progress with its share repurchase program, said on Monday it bought a total of about 857,000 euros worth of common shares between Nov. 20 and Nov. 24. Telecom Italia closed with a 0.6 percent decline. The company has begun organizing what it calls NetCo, a business unit that will be transferred to FiberCop when it closes the sale of its fixed network to KKR, scheduled for the summer of 2024. The business unit will include the fixed network infrastructure and related real estate, the management of which will be its responsibility, the wholesale business and the full stake in the subsidiary Telenergia, the company specified in a statement.

DiaSorin, on the other hand, gave up 2.8 percent to 85.16 euros per share, closing the fourth consecutive session on a bearish note. Among other companies, Mid-Cap Sesa declined 0.9 percent after falling 2.4 percent the previous day. Brunello Cucinelli shares were down 3.4 percent at 74.45 euros. The company, which will move to trading on Mib from December, was down 0.8 percent on Monday. LU-VE gave up 2.0 percent, flipping into negative territory after closing two sessions higher. Marble Bar Asset Management raised its short status on Industrie De Nora from 0.78 percent to 0.82 percent, and the stock closed with a 0.4 percent gain. On the other hand, OVS shares rose 1.2 percent. Marshall Wace changed its short position from 0.89 percent to 0.93 percent. Lottomatica rose 1.1 percent. The company said it has issued a €500 million variable-rate bond due 2030 at 99.5 percent, with a coupon rate equal to the sum of the three-month Euribor rate - with a floor of 0 percent - plus 4.00 percent per annum. The offering is expected to take place on December 14, subject to customary closing conditions.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Wednesday down 0.3 percent to 33,321.22, the Shanghai Composite gave up 0.6 percent to 3,021.69 and the Hang Seng fell 2.4 percent to 16,932.27. In New York on Tuesday evening, the Dow rose 0.2 percent to 35,416.98, the Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent to 14,281.76 and the S&P

Among currencies, the euro exchanged at USD1.0994 compared with USD1.1002 recorded on the European stock market on Tuesday, while the pound is at USD1.2704 compared with USD1.2703 on Tuesday evening. Brent is quoted at USD81.90 per barrel, up from USD81.99 per barrel at Tuesday's close. Gold is trading at USD2,045.35 per ounce compared to USD2,035.78 per ounce on Tuesday evening.

On Wednesday's macroeconomic calendar, Italy's business and consumer confidence data is expected to be released at 10:00 CET. In an hour, the producer price index will be released, also from Italy. An auction of Italian bonds maturing in five and ten years is scheduled for 11:10 CET, and Italian industrial sales are scheduled for 12:00. At 13:00 CET there will be a US mortgage market report and at 14:00 CET inflation will be released from Germany according to Destatis. U.S. GDP will be released at 2:30 p.m. CET, and at 4:30 p.m. Cushing oil inventories and inventory data will be released at 4:30 p.m. CET. FOMC member Mester is scheduled to speak at 19:45. H-Farm results are expected on the corporate calendar.