Around 9:20 CET, the FTSE Mib was down 0.2%, with European bourses equally subdued as the Fed prepares to meet on U.S. interest rates, which are expected to remain unchanged.
The Italian banking index shed 0.5%, while energy stocks edged higher following another rise in crude prices as efforts to de-escalate the conflict between the U.S. and Iran remain deadlocked.
NEXI stood out with a 7.5% jump, fueled by Financial Times reports of renewed interest from Cvc. The private equity firm is reportedly weighing a 9 billion euro bid for the Italian payments group, though deliberations are said to be at an early stage.
Conversely, FERRAGAMO suffered a sharp decline (-6%) after Jefferies initiated coverage with an 'underperform' rating and a price target of 5.5 euros.
STM (+2.4%) and STELLANTIS (+1.5%) also saw active trading.
(Claudia Cristoferi, editing Stefano Bernabei)
