Piazza Affari is in line the other Old Continent stock exchanges--Paris is also slightly positive--while futures on U.S. indices float around parity.
Around 11:45 a.m. the Ftse Mib rises 0.4 percent with volumes around 750 million.
Among the outstanding stocks:
The banking index, under heavy pressure Friday, rises 0.6 percent thanks in part to the cooling of the Btp/Bund spread after widening last week.
Lively Unipol (+1.7%) in a sector ignited by an M&A deal in Northern Europe, where Finnish insurer Sampo will take over Danish Topdanmark. On Saturday Milano Finanza wrote that Unipol could buy 10% of Mps (+0.4%) in the process of the Treasury's exit from the bank, a deal that could also involve an investment by Anima (+0.4%).
Reduces losses Fincantieri, slipped to over 3% as news spread of the sudden death of its chairman, General Claudio Graziano. Around 11.45 a.m. it loses 2 percent.
Purchases on Mfe, Leonardo, Telecom.
In the energy sector, Saipem and Erg (-2.5%) fall.
(Claudia Cristoferi, editing Gianluca Semeraro)