After two negative sessions, Piazza Affari rears its head again and opens slightly higher, in line with other European listings.

Encouraging market sentiment this morning are the positive performance of U.S. futures and declines in bond yields.

After the recent correction, investors are cautiously returning to equities even as attention remains high on the performance of the U.S. economy and the expected tariff policies of President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office in the White House next week. In particular, on the U.S. macro front, the wait is all on tomorrow's consumer price data. Any higher-than-expected data could make a dent in the only rate cut still fully priced in for this year.

As of 9:45 a.m., the Ftse Mib is up 0.7 percent.

Among individual stocks, Pirelli stands out, topping the Ftse Mib with a rise of about 3 percent after Goldman Sachs raised its rating to 'buy' from 'neutral' with target price to 7.1 euros from 6.4.

In contrast, Nexi gives up 4 percent on Morgan Stanley's rejection to 'underweight' from 'equal weight' with a target price cut to 4.75 euros from 7.15 euros.

Supporting the Milanese list are bank stocks in particular with Pop Sondrio at +2.5 percent, Intesa Sanpaolo at +2 percent, followed by UniCredit, Banco Bpm and Bper with advances between 1.3 and 1.7 percent.

Oil stocks fell on profit-taking thanks to the retracement of crude oil prices, which nevertheless remain close to the highs of the past four months. Eni, Saipem and Tenaris give up around 1 percent.

(Andrea Mandalà, editing Francesca Piscioneri)