MILAN (Reuters) - Indexes in Piazza Affari are moving cautiously lower, with investors reluctant to take a position. Driving the courses is non-positive news about Chinese growth and, more generally, a slowdown in economies globally.

Around 11:30 a.m., the Ftse Mib is down 0.44 percent. Volumes are around 500 million euros.

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Popolare Sondrio stands out with a jump of more than 5 percent below the highs reached at the beginning of the session on Repubblica's rumors, later confirmed, that Unipolsai, which already holds 9.5 percent, asked the ECB two months ago for permission to rise to 19.9 percent of the Valtellina bank.

According to one trader, press rumors of a possible share increase in a market seeking stories ignited speculation by triggering buying.

Down sharply is Bper (-1.3%), of which UnipolSai is a major shareholder and a suspect in a possible merger with the Valtellina bank, again according to rumors.

In general, the entire banking sector folds today with the sector index retreating 1.3%. Down sharply is Banca Mps (-2.9%), in a continuous up-and-down and volatile trend in recent sessions. Also down is UniCredit (-2%).

Well collected Stellantis up 1.2%. One trader cites a broker upgrade to 'buy'. Pirelli (+1.35%) also bought.

Good Tim's, which rises more than 1.1% to within a whisker of 0.31 euros.

Tod's gives up 0.3% ahead of half-year accounts today with markets closed. According to Intesa Sanpaolo analysts, "the focus of the results will be on the update of current sales performance and the recovery in profitability expected by management."

Down sharply Moncler, which retreats around 3.4 percent, sensitive to turbulence in the Chinese market.

(Giancarlo Navach, editing Gianluca Semeraro)