Italian banks drag markets down, yields hit new highs
Italian banks suffered losses on Monday, dragging down the benchmark FTSE MIB index more than 2% in the negative territory. Meanwhile, Italian bond yields increased, rising to a 54-month high.
Meanwhile, trading was halted for banks in Italy after sharp losses. Unicredit was down 5% at 11:31 am CET. Intesa Sanpaolo declined 4.10% at 11:33 am CET, while Mediobanca and Ubi Banca lost 4.62% and 4.75%, respectively. The FTSE MIB fell 2.22 at 11:44 am CET.
Market tremors follow European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's remarks over the weekend, stating the EU was ready to help Italy with its budget. Earlier this morning, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini stated that Juncker and the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Pierre Moscovici were "the real enemies of Europe."