Milan bourse sheds 1.58%

ANSA) - Milan, September 26 - The Milan bourse lost ground Monday, with the benchmark FTSE MIB index shedding 1.58% to close at 16,192 points on uncertainties in the banking sector and ahead of a December 4 referendum on Premier Matteo Renzi's constitutional reform law, analysts said.
    Shares in troubled lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) bucked the trend, soaring 7% in the day's trading before settling at +1.43% on positive expectations about new CEO Marco Morelli. Pharmaceutical company Recordati jumped 3.38% on rumoured interest on the part of Asian groups. Big losers included Mediobanca (-3.89%) and UniCredit (-3.63%), the latter ahead of a new industrial plan to be unveiled before year's end to spin off several assets in view of a five-billion-euro capital increase. Investors also dumped shares in oil and gas industry contractor Saipem (-3.97%), automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (-3.65%), Telecom (-2.75%). Mediaset also suffered (-1.4%) on the eve of a board meeting to discuss a suit for millions in damages filed by Silvio Berlusconi's media group against French media giant Vivendi for its alleged failure to respect an April 8 deal to buy its pay-TV unit Premium.