After holding up well yesterday amid uncertainty on all European lists due to the unexpected outcome of the French elections, Piazza Affari starts this morning in slight negative ground affected by declines in banks and Oil.

In the absence of any major macro appointments that could give any directional indication to markets -- the only event on today's agenda is the first day of Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's hearings at the Senate Banking Committee -- investors are focusing on individual cues at this early stage.

Around 9:30 a.m., the FTSE Mib trades down 0.35 percent.

Bankers retreat after sharp rises on the eve with Pop Sondrio, Mediobanca, Unicredit and Intesa down between 0.5% for the latter to -1% for the former popular. Also among financials, Generali is at the bottom of the Ftse Mib with a decline of 2%.

Among oils, weighed down in Europe by Bp's announcement (-3%) that it expects second-quarter results to be impacted by falling refining margins and weakness in the oil market, Eni gives up 0.4%, despite yesterday's news about a new offshore discovery in Mexico.

On the opposite side of the Ftse Mib in evidence is Prysmian, up more than 3 percent after Jefferies revised upward its recommendation on the stock to 'Buy' from 'Hold' with a target price of 73 euros from 58 euros previously.

(Andrea Mandalà, editing Gianluca Semeraro)