Slightly down start in Piazza Affari, in line with the opening of other European stock markets, with markets busy assessing the possible impact of the new Donald Trump administration's economic and fiscal policies, following the inauguration of the 47th U.S. president yesterday.

Investor attention is particularly focused on the issue of tariffs, where there is no shortage of uncertainty. While Trump has not announced the immediate imposition of campaign-promised duties - and markets already breathed a sigh of relief yesterday - he has said he may impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico from February 1 in response to the illegal entry of migrants and fentanyl into the US.

Although there have been no announcements for other countries "the specter of tariffs remains and until the issue is clear volatility will remain high and linked to any social media posts and/or announcements by Trump," Mps strategists comment in the daily.

On the macro front, while the markets' unconcealed desire is to see a continuation of expansionary economic policies, on the other hand there are fears are that these risk reviving inflation, pushing the Fed to an even more cautious stance in its path of monetary easing.

Around 9:50 a.m. the Ftse Mib gives up 0.18 percent weighed down by the auto sector, against a generally positive financial sector.

Among individual stocks, Stellantis is among the worst performers on the main list, down 1.6 percent amid weakness for the entire European automotive sector on prospects of tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico. Also weighed down by data on December European car registrations, which, for the French-Italian group saw confirmation of underperformance compared to the market, (-6.7% vs. +4.1%).

Also down was Pirelli at -1%, while Ferrari limited its decline to about 0.2%.

After an uneventful start, Generali flexes 0.6% on the day of the announcement of an agreement with French group Bpce to create a joint venture with Natixis in asset management with the aim of creating a European champion in the sector with 1.9 trillion in assets under management. For banca Akros, this is "positive news" even if the structure of the new company is in line with rumors circulated in recent days.

Among bankers rises around half a percentage point for UniCredit and Bper. Better Banca Mediolanum up more than 1 percent.

In the rest of the list Diasorin gains 1.9 percent, while at the other end Campari loses more than 2 percent.

(Andrea Mandalà, editing Francesca Piscioneri)