A black October for the financial markets

It has been a very tough month for stock markets, due to the outbrake of a new conflict in the Middle East, and especially because of continuing doubts about the moves of central banks, whose rate hikes are beginning to weigh on the economy.

In fact, third-quarter data have come out reporting negative or near-zero GDP growth in almost every country in Europe, and quarterly earnings reports have generally disappointed analysts' expectations. All of this has resulted in negative returns in any market, with the Eurostoxx 600, the main European index, declining by 3.97 percent.

This bearish trend has been accentuated, as often happens, by small cap indices. For example, the SDAX lost over 6 percent in October, and the CAC Small recorded a 10 percent loss. The FTSE Italia Growth index is not exempt from this bearish trend either, losing 8.46 percent during the month.

In October, the index we calculate, ESG Ita Growth underperformed the benchmark in both the equally weighted version (in which each company has an equal weight within the index regardless of the company's actual size) and the market cap weighted version, in which instead each company weighs in the index is based on its capitalization.

Specifically, the equally weighted index lost 9.66 percent, while the market cap weighted index lost 13.46 percent for the month.

Despite the month of October, the ESG Ita Growth index, over the analyzed period, nearly 2 years now, remains firmly in overperformance in both versions. The market cap weighted index outperforms the benchmark by approximately 5%, while the overperformance of the equally weighted index is even more pronounced, exceeding 10%.

The Best performer of the month is Altea Green Power, a provider and operator of photovoltaic plants, based in Rivoli(TO), established in 2008 and listed on the Euronext Growth Milan of Borsa Italiana since February 1, 2022. The company, as reported on its website, "develops photovoltaic, wind and storage plants on its own account and as co-developer and system integrator, focusing on large sites, functional for high power plants." The company is experiencing significant growth, reporting a production value of €10.1 million (+34%) and a net profit of €3.5 million (+196.76%) in the first half of 2023. In the month of October, its stock prices saw an appreciation of 5.08%.

Please note that on a monthly basis, we will update the performance of the ESG Ita Growth index, which will be uploaded on the REPAiR website.