MILAN (Reuters) - Piazza Affari is moving cautiously higher in a session where caution still prevails.

Around 11:45 a.m., the Ftse Mib index is up 0.30 percent. Volumes of 740 million euros.

Stocks in focus today

Spotlight on Nexi, which rips with a jump of about 15.7 percent after Bloomberg news agency wrote yesterday that Cvc is considering a possible bid for the Italian company, citing people familiar with the dossier. "The news has positive implications for Nexi given the valuation gap between current and m&a multiples," Equita writes. Also up sharply is rival Worldline in Paris (+6.1 percent).

Sold Mediobanca down 2.6 percent, penalized by Deutsche Bank's downgrade to "Sell" from "Hold" and target price to 10.3 euros from 11.3 euros previously.

Little moved the rest of the banks with the sector index in line with the stock market index. Big Intesa Sp and UniCredit selloffs.

Strong Saipem (+4.6%) boosted by the new jump in oil prices following the escalation of tension in the Middle East. Money also on Eni rising 1.4%.

Also doing well is Tim up 2.4% recovering after a sharp decline two sessions ago due to lack of clarity on Kkr's binding offer.

Outside the basket, money continues on Unieuro at +2.4% on the heels of the announcement of the acquisition of Covercare.

(Giancarlo Navach, editing Stefano Bernabei)