Indexes opened flat in early trading at Piazza Affari, weighed down by declines in the Tokyo stock market this morning and on Wall Street overnight.

More broadly, markets are experiencing a gradual slowdown in investment activity ahead of the Christmas and year-end holidays, with just a handful of trading sessions remaining.

Today, all eyes are on the European Central Bank meeting. Markets widely expect the ECB to keep rates steady at 2% and to signal little interest in rate cuts at the conclusion of a meeting where it could also upgrade its growth forecasts. The central banks of Sweden and Norway are also expected to leave rates unchanged at 1.75% and 4%, respectively.

Markets, on the other hand, anticipate that the Bank of England will be the main protagonist among today's central bank meetings, with a 25 basis point rate cut to 3.75% seen as almost certain.

On the macroeconomic data front, new weekly U.S. jobless claims are due at 14:30.

Around 9:30, the Ftse Mib index was up 0.25%.

The banking sector remained buoyant, though gains were modest, with the sector index rising 0.40%. Among the heavyweights, UNICREDIT and INTESA rose in line with the index, while POP SONDRIO continued its rally, up 1.1%, as did MPS at +1%.

PRYSMIAN was well bid, rising 2.2%.

CAMPARI gained 1% after reaching a deal to sell Sicilian amaro Averna and Sardinian mirto Zedda Piras to Illva Saronno Holding for a consideration of 100 million euros, as part of its strategy to streamline its portfolio and reduce financial leverage. According to Akros Bank, this is "strategically positive news as it confirms management's ability and willingness to implement the group's strategy."

Outside the main index, OVS surged 7.2% after the company posted growth in sales and EBITDA in the first nine months, confirming a positive trend through the end of the fiscal year. The results were in line with expectations, with a better-than-expected third quarter for organic sales.

On the downside, GEOX fell 1.3%, hit by 2026 budget figures that confirmed operating margins in line with the 2025-2029 Industrial Plan but projected revenues "decidedly lower" than the plan.

(Giancarlo Navach, editing Stefano Bernabei)