Meliorbanca, the Italian bank that has floated on the Italian Stock Exchange, opened optimistically on its first day of trading, but fell back as the day progressed.

Meliorbanca shares, which were priced on Tuesday at €6.40 each, opened at a healthy €7.88, a first-day premium of more than 20% on the issue price. The shares touched a high of €7.89, but began to fall as afternoon trading kicked in.