MILAN (Reuters) - Piazza Affari is up slightly in a session where mostly selective cues prevail in the absence of a clear directionality.

Investors' attention is basically on macro appointments on inflation trends in the United States, Japan and Europe.

Japanese inflation was above expectations in January. The 2 percent year-on-year increase came as a surprise to traders, keeping alive expectations of a rate hike in Japan as early as next month.

Around 12:32 p.m., the Ftse Mib index gained 0.11 percent. Volumes amounted to just under 1 billion.

Stocks in focus today

Campari stands out with a jump of about 6% after 2023 results that see double-digit organic growth in operating profitability for the third consecutive year. One trader points out that the market is rewarding the data, which is above expectations across all of the group's operating lines.

Burning all the way up was startup Prysmian (+0.16 percent), which touched all-time highs at 45.40 euros. Driving the share price up was the announcement of a contract for a roughly 1.9 billion order awarded by Eastern Green Link 2 Limited. According to Banca Akros, "the news is clearly positive and not expected."

Well collected Ferrari, which rises 1.3 percent and renews all-time highs at 391.80 euros. Ferragamo rebounds (+1.4%) after yesterday's decline.

Profit-taking on banks, with the worst Popolare Di Sondrio retreating more than 1.5%. Intesa is weak, while UniCredit is up slightly. Banco Bpm is down 0.9%.

Edison (+2.92%) is doing well, while Snam stands at +0.4% after the two companies announced exclusive negotiations for the purchase and sale of the three natural gas storage sites Edison owns in Italy. Cedente Ascopiave (-0.22%), which remained out of the exclusivity. For Equita this is negative news because "it would have allowed Ascopiave to complete the diversification process pending the restart of gas tenders."

Outside the basket Technogym (-4.2%) slips, penalized by Banca Akros' downgrade to "sell" from "neutral" on the risk of "disappointing 2023 results."

Well collected Fiera Milano (+2.1%). Mediobanca Securities initiated coverage with an "Outperform" recommendation and 3.7 euro target price. The broker emphasizes "high revenue visibility (...) and healthy cash generation. Fiera Milano is a solid platform with significant unexpressed potential."

Finally sold Lazio (-2.26%) post defeat yesterday in the championship against Fiorentina.

(Giancarlo Navach, editing Claudia Cristoferi)