The trading session opened without major swings at Piazza Affari, as investors remain focused on the upcoming Federal Reserve moves scheduled for next week.
According to CME Group's FedWatch, the probability of a 25 basis point rate cut by the FOMC on Wednesday has risen to 87%, strengthening over the past week after the ADP report showed an unexpected decline in employment for November.
Around 9:35 a.m., the FTSE Mib index was up by 0.27%.
FINCANTIERI was notably in demand, rising by 2.44% and nearing inclusion in the FTSE Mib index, prompting portfolio adjustments by money managers.
Broker reports are having a particular impact on ENI, which dropped 1.4% after JP Morgan downgraded its recommendation to "underweight" from "overweight" and set a target price of EUR15.5.
Among the banks, CREDEM lost 0.3% after Barclays downgraded its recommendation to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight.' MEDIOBANCA was also sold off (-0.20%), again following a Barclays downgrade to 'underweight' from 'equal-weight,' with a new target price of EUR17.5 from EUR17.9. Conversely, the sector's major players performed well, with UNICREDIT and INTESA up between 0.9% and 0.7%.
Broker sentiment also benefited TECHNOGYM, which rose 3% to new all-time highs at EUR16.45 after Berenberg raised its target price to EUR18.6 from EUR15.2.
LEONARDO was sold off, falling 1.2% amid general weakness in the European defense sector. German company RHEINMETALL lost 0.9% in Frankfurt.
Finally, AVIO gained 1.75% after securing new contract estimates worth over EUR600 million for the 2026-27 period from the European Space Agency. According to Intermonte, "the outcome is slightly better than our expectations, which projected about EUR550 million in new awards."
(Giancarlo Navach, editing by Gianluca Semeraro)
