The Milan bourse closed 2.46% down
Tuesday as the bellwether FTSE-MIB index fell to 17,966 points,
below the psychologically important 18,000-point threshold.
Banking stocks took a pounding once more.
Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) lost 7.5%, UBI 5.1%, Banco
Popolare 7.1%, Unicredit 4.6%, BPER 4.3%, Intesa 2.3%,
Mediobanca 3.8% and Popolare di Milano 3.5%.
The market has been hit by the case of struggling lender
Banca Popolare Vicenza (BPV), which was refused a bourse listing
on Monday and is set to be taken over by new bank fund Atlante.
The fund is taking a 99.33% stake in BPV having
underwritten a capital increase to the tune of 1.5 billion
euros.
Investors are now looking closely at Veneto Banca, which
risks going down the same road, and Carige, trading in which was
suspended before it posted an 8% loss.
European stock markets also suffered, but less so, with
London 0.9% down, Frankfurt 1.9% off and Paris 1.5% down.
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