The mood in the markets appears calmer after recent weakness fueled by fears about the health of the Chinese economy, while investors' attention remains focused on the Jackson Hole symposium, which begins Thursday, looking for clues about the path of interest rates in the US.

Even a momentary lull on the yield rise front on bonds offers some positive cues on equities.

As of 9:35 a.m., the Ftse Mib is up 0.6 percent.

On the main list, PRYSMIAN immediately stands out, jumping more than 4 percent after news that the Italian cable group has been selected by TSO Amprion, one of Germany's transmission system operators, as a 'preferred bidder' for projects on connection networks worth a total of €4.5 billion.

Tonic STM up 2 percent on the back of the positive performance of all European chips buoyed by optimism around the sector as it awaits results from American Nvidia tomorrow.

Rallies in energy, little movement in banks. Sluggish TELECOM ITALIA, at the bottom of the Ftse Mib with a decline of about 0.9 percent.

(Andrea Mandalà, editing Stefano Bernabei)