Piazza Affari remains in positive territory, mirroring the performance of other major European markets.

US futures are also trading higher, suggesting a positive start for Wall Street indices after yesterday's decline.

More broadly, markets are witnessing a gradual slowdown in investment activity ahead of the Christmas and year-end holidays, with only a handful of trading sessions remaining. Trading volumes hover around 1 billion euros.

Today, all eyes are on the European Central Bank meeting. Markets widely expect the ECB to keep rates steady at 2% and signal little appetite for cuts at the conclusion of a meeting where growth forecasts may be revised upward.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England is seen as the main central bank in focus today, with markets almost fully pricing in a 25-basis-point rate cut to 3.75%, with an announcement expected at 13:00.

On the macroeconomic front, investors await the latest US weekly jobless claims data, due at 14:30.

Around 12:50, the FTSE Mib index was up 0.43%.

Stocks in focus today:

** The banking sector remains firm, albeit with more moderate gains, as the index rises 0.60%. Among the heavyweights, UNICREDIT and INTESA are up between 0.20% and 0.8%, while POP SONDRIO continues its rally, climbing 1.6%, with MPS up 2.6%.

PRYSMIAN is also well bid, up more than 1%.

Among industrials, STELLANTIS (-1.8%) and AMPLIFON (-1.65%) are under selling pressure. LEONARDO, on the other hand, is positive, gaining 1.4%.

WEBUILD rises 1.4%, with savings shares up 3.15%, after the European Public Prosecutor's Office requested the dismissal of the investigation against Webuild CEO Pietro Salini and three other suspects regarding the awarding of the contract for the new Genoa breakwater, according to Reuters.

ARISTON HOLDING is also seeing buying interest, up 2.1% following the acquisition of Riello. Broker Equita has raised its target price on the stock by 3% to 4.9 euros per share.

Outside the main index, OVS is also gaining, up 2.2%, though slowing from its early-session surge, after the company reported growth in sales and EBITDA for the first nine months, confirming a positive trend for the full year. Results are in line with expectations, with a stronger third quarter in terms of organic sales.

On the downside, GEOX falls 1.1%, weighed down by its 2026 budget figures, which confirm operating margins in line with the 2025-2029 Industrial Plan, but project "significantly lower" revenues compared to the plan.

(Giancarlo Navach, editing by Antonella Cinelli)