The stocks of troubled Tuscan
lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) rose Wednesday after it
confirmed the day before that it had received over one billion
euros in voluntary conversions of subordinate bonds.
The bank on December 2 published preliminary data on the
scheme, a major plank of a five-billion-euro fundraising aimed
at ensuring the survival of the Siena-based bank.
The Milan bourse has been rising since the beginning of the
week despite the No vote in Sunday's Constitutional reform
referendum. The FTSE was up 1.31% at midday on Thursday and was
driven by banking sector stocks including MPS, which was up by
7.14%.
The markets are keenly awaiting Thursday's decision on
European Central Bank (ECB) interest rates and a speech by ECB
chief Mario Draghi.
ANSA was told by a spokesman for a European bailout fund on
Wednesday that there had not been "any request or discussion
with Italian authorities about a possible European Stability
Mechanism (ESM) loan" in reference to reports in the media about
requests for 15 billion euros to bail out MPS and other credit
institutes.
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