After yesterday's pause, Piazza Affari resumes its upward trend, opening slightly higher while other European stock markets remain largely stable.
Investors are eyeing the upcoming European inflation data, although last week's country-specific figures, combined with robust growth, have reinforced expectations that the European Central Bank will leave rates unchanged.
Around 9:50 a.m., the FTSE Mib index was up 0.64%.
GENERALI stood out, topping the main index with a 2% gain, as the market closely monitors potential implications for the insurance giant stemming from the Milan prosecutor's probe into MPS's attempted takeover of Mediobanca.
MPS remained sluggish, while the rest of the banking sector advanced, with BPER and POP SONDRIO up around 1.7%, UNICREDIT gaining 1.6%, and MEDIOBANCA rising 1.1%.
CAMPARI surged 2.4% after Barclays upgraded its rating to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight', raising its target price to EUR7.9 from EUR6.1.
LOTTOMATICA also performed well, climbing 1.8% after JP Morgan increased its target price to EUR31 from EUR28.
Oil and automotive stocks declined. Among oil stocks, SAIPEM dropped 2.3% and TENARIS slipped 1.5%. In the automotive sector, STELLANTIS edged down 0.5% after Italian car registration data for November, while FERRARI lost 0.4%.
Outside the main index, ARISTON HOLDING stood out, jumping over 3%. Analysts cited as positive news for the company a draft revision of the European Ecodesign regulation, which would remove the possibility of banning gas boiler sales starting in 2029.
(Andrea Mandalà, editing by Stefano Bernabei)
