Piazza Affari kicks off the week with its foot on the accelerator, driven in particular by UniCredit's surge—the bank carries significant weight in the index—after its 2025 results and 2026 guidance came in above expectations.

Today, the Milan Stock Exchange is posting the best performance in Europe, while US futures point to a negative opening on Wall Street this afternoon as investors await crucial economic data and signals from the Federal Reserve on potential rate cuts.

This week will see, first, the employment report scheduled for Wednesday—originally expected last week but postponed due to a brief government shutdown—which will be decisive in assessing the strength of the US labor market following recent signs of weakness. Finally, Friday will bring updates on price trends with the release of January's CPI figures, also delayed.

Around 12:40 pm, the Ftse Mib is up by 1.16%. Trading volumes stand at 1.94 billion euros.

Stocks in the spotlight today

** UNICREDIT is the star of the index, soaring 6.6% to new highs not seen since November 2009. The bank aims to bring its profits to around 11 billion euros in 2026 after reaching 10.6 billion in 2025 (+13.6% year-on-year), a result above expectations and supported by stakes acquired in other institutions as part of CEO Andrea Orcel's expansion plan. According to JPM, the 2026 forecast exceeds the market's expected profit of 10.6 billion, "with higher net revenues and improved costs."

The banking sector index is up 2.7%. MPS rises by 0.8%, while BPER also performs well, climbing 0.6% to new all-time highs at 12.88 euros.

** Some short covering on STELLANTIS, which is up 1.5%, though this does not erase Friday's 25% plunge following the announcement of charges of around 22.2 billion euros as part of a plan to scale back ambitions for electric vehicles. Broker Jefferies has cut its target price to 10 euros from 13 euros. Equita writes in its daily note that "the worst in terms of news is behind us, but free cash flow remains the most important element to monitor closely."

** STM jumps around 7.6% after expanding its strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), announcing a multi-billion dollar commercial agreement to enable new high-performance computing infrastructure for cloud and AI datacenters. It is also possible that the US tech giant could take a stake in the Franco-Italian group of just under 3% via a warrant.

** The defense sector also sees movement, with LEONARDO up 1.6% and FINCANTIERI gaining over 2.7%.

** TIM also performs well (+2%), climbing back above 60 euro cents and reaching new highs since August 2018 at 61 cents.

** Engineering companies are also in demand, with MAITRE up 2.7% and SAIPEM gaining 1.3%.

** Utilities, on the other hand, are being sold off, with ENEL the worst performer, down 1.2%. SNAM (-1%) and TERNA (-0.95%) are also lower, with the latter retreating after recent all-time highs.

(Giancarlo Navach, editing by Antonella Cinelli)