Milan bourse closes -1.1%

(ANSA) - Milan, September 23 - The Milan stock exchange lost ground Friday with the benchmark FTSE MIB index shedding 1.1% to close at 16,542 points on what analysts said was profit-taking after yesterday's rally on the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to leave short-term rates unchanged.
    Bank shares came under fire again, with Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) losing 1.9% to close at 0.19 euros a share, UBI -3.4% and Intesa Sanpaolo -3.2%.
    Banco Popolare (-2.3%) and BPM (-2.1%) posted losses in spite of their imminent merger.
    UniCredit bucked the trend, adding 1.3% after Goldman Sachs put it on its "conviction buy" list. Salvatore Ferragamo added 2.6% after a positive assessment from analysts at Kepler Cheuvreux, while Moncler shed 2.2% and Yoox-net-a-porter lost 1.9%. Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset media conglomerate rose by 1.31% and Ferrari luxury carmaker added 0.62%. The spread between Italian and German 10-year bonds, a gauge of Italy's borrowing costs and investor confidence, closed at 129.33 points, up from 128 points on Thursday.
    The yield was 11.211%, up from 1.18% yesterday.