Spread rises above 170 points

(ANSA) - Rome, May 21 - The spread between Italy's 10-year BTP bond and the German Bund continued to rise in early trading on Monday, when it crossed the 170-basis-points mark and reached 174.
    It is the highest level since August 2017 for the spread, which is a key measure of investor confidence.
    The yield on the BTP was up 2.29%, the highest level since mid July 2017. The Milan stock exchange's FTSE Mib index shed 2% in early trading on Monday, taking it below the 23,000-points mark, before regaining some of the losses. After close to an hour and a half of trading it was 1% down at 23,200 points.
    The market appears uneasy with the 5-Star Movement (M5S) and the League set to present the name of the person they want to be the next premier to President Sergio Mattarella later on Monday after they reached a deal for a government.