Milan bourse closes 1.96% higher

(ANSA) - Milan, January 13 - Italy's main financial market closed higher Tuesday as European stock exchanges followed Wall Street on what analysts said was investor optimism following positive business confidence and December US deficit numbers.
    The FTSE Mib rose by 1.96% to close at 18,708 points while on the Italian bond market, the spread between Italy's benchmark 10-year bond and its ultra-safe German counterpart fell to 133.5 basis points.
    The spread between lending rates in the two countries is an important indication of investor faith in the Italian economy.
    The yield on Italy's 10-year paper ended Tuesday's trading at 1.81%.
    Shares in Saipem rose by 5.07% during trading, Tod's rose by 5.16% and Telecom by 4.27%. On other European markets, Spain's IBEX 35 rose by 1.76%, the Parisian CAC 40 added 1.66% and Frankfurt's DAX gained 1.74% while in London, the FTSE index of leading British shares rose by just 0.66%.