Milan bourse suffers big losses (2)

(ANSA) - Milan, July 6 - The Milan stock exchanges' FTSE Mib index was 2% down at 15,464 points after over two hours of trading on Wednesday. The biggest loser was Telecom Italia, down 8.2%, after French businessman Xavier Niel announced he would sell his options in the group, with his Iliad set to buy assets from the soon-to-be-merged 3 Italy and Wind in order to create a new entrant in the Italian telecoms market.
    Troubled bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena, however, was up 8.41% after coming under huge pressure in recent days following the European Central Bank's demand it slash its exposure to non-performing loans. The stock market authorities have temporarily bank short selling of MPS shares in a bid to stop the stock coming under speculative attacks. Fellow banks BPM and Banco Popolare were up 2.26% and 0.2% respectively, but Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) shed 3.8%.