Italy's leading financial market falls

(ANSA) - Milan, September 19 - Italy's leading financial index fell by 0.74% Friday, running against a generally neutral current in European markets after voters in Scotland rejected independence from the United Kingdom.
    The FTSE Mib closed at 20,972 points while on the Italian bond market, the spread between Italy's benchmark 10-year bond and its ultra-safe German counterpart closed at 133 basis points, down slightly from Thursday's close of 136 basis points but higher than its opening of 130 basis points.
    The yield on Italy's 10-year paper ended trading at 2.37%.
    The spread between lending rates in the two countries is an important indication of investor confidence in the Italian economy.
    On other European markets, Frankfurt's DAX was unchanged at 9,799 points while in Paris, the CAC 40 fell by 0.08% and closed at 4,461.22 points and in London, the FTSE index of leading British shares rose by 0.27% to close at 6,837 points.