Italy - Factors to watch on Sept. 22
22/09/2025 05:00
The following factors could affect Italian markets on Monday. Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*). For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on IT/DIA. POLITICS Thousands of Italians join a nation-wide strike to stand in solidarity with Gaza and protest against arm shipments sent to Israel. A European Union proposal to use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine needs to be assessed carefully, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Friday at an informal Ecofin meeting in Copenhagen. ECONOMY Italy's budget deficit could fall below the European Union's ceiling of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, ahead of time, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Saturday. The euro's current strength is a burden on the bloc's exports, Giorgetti also said. DEBT Italy won a clear rating boost on Friday when Fitch upgraded the creditworthiness of the euro zone's third-largest economy reflecting the country's political stability and improving public finances under the government of Giorgia Meloni. The Treasury said on Friday it would sell up to 5 billion euros in short-term BTP and inflation-linked BTP bond at auction on September 24. It also said it would offer a new BTP Valore bond for retail investors only. The issue, with a 7-year maturity, will be sold between October 20 and 24. On Monday the Treasury will give details of the sale of 6-month BOT bills to be auctioned on September 25. COMPANIES GENERALI GASI.MI The Italian insurer and French bank BPCE have agreed to scrap the 50 million euro ($58.77 million) break-up fee that would be triggered if a proposed deal to merge their asset management businesses fails to go ahead, two sources told Reuters. (*) In order to protect Generali's governance in the wake of MPS' takeover bid for Mediobanca, the Italian government is considering a so-called "institutional anchor", la Repubblica's financial weekly Affari&Finanza reported on Monday, citing government sources. Under the proposed plan, control of the Trieste-based insurer would be split among key domestic players including UniCredit CRDI.MI, Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI , Poste Italiane PSt.MI, state lender CDP and the Bank of Italy's pension fund, the report added. BANCA MONTE PASCHI DI SIENA BMPS.MI, MEDIOBANCA MDBI.MI The state-backed Tuscan bank has secured more than two thirds of Mediobanca's capital, bourse data showed on Friday, crossing the ownership threshold needed to push through any extraordinary shareholder decisions. The reopening of the full voluntary takeover offer on Mediobanca ordinary shares ends on Monday. According to internal dealing communications, Mediobanca CEO Alberto Nagel joined Monte dei Paschi's offer for the Milan-based merchant bank, tendering 364,000 shares. Mediobanca's general manager, Francesco Saverio Vinci, transferred 263,000 shares, while the bank's chairman, Renato Pagliaro, tendered one million shares. BANCO BPM BAMI.MI Credit Agricole CAGR.PA has been working with Deutsche Bank and Rothschild on a potential merger of its Italian arm with the Italian bank, three sources said on Friday. BANKS Italy's Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Saturday banks should help the government fund measures in the upcoming government's 2026 budget. "Banks are aware of the type of help the State has provided them with public guarantees. When the government is in need, there must be a minimum level of reciprocity," Giorgetti said. (*) STELLANTIS STLAM.MI The carmaker on Sunday said it had activated incident response protocols and initiated an investigation after detecting "unauthorized access to a third-party service provider's platform that supports our North American customer service operations". It added that the "personal information involved was limited to contact information". (*) SNAM SRG.MI A subsidiary of the gas grid group is considering building a $1 billion natural gas storage site off the UK coast, betting a new facility would see strong demand amid efforts to guard against geopolitical risks, Bloomberg reported on Monday. FERRAGAMO SFER.MI The luxury group's controlling family reiterated on Friday that it was not interested in any kind of "extraordinary transactions." LOTTOMATICA LTMC.MI The betting company replaces tyre maker Pirelli PIRC.MI as of Monday in Milan's blue-chip index FTSE Mib. (*) JUVENTUS JUVE.MI Winless Hellas Verona ended Juventus's three-match winning streak in Serie A with a 1-1 draw on Saturday as Gift Orban's equaliser from the penalty spot in the 44th minute cancelled out Francisco Conceicao's early strike. (*) SS LAZIO LAZI.MI AS Roma edged Lazio 1-0 in a fiery Derby della Capitale on Sunday. DIARY Rome, World Nuclear Industry Status Report publishes annual results (WNISR2025) at an event co-hosted by the Kyoto Club. ((Milan newsroom, e-mail: reutersitaly@thomsonreuters.com)) For Italian market data and news, click on codes in brackets: 20 biggest gainers (in percentage).............PG.MI 20 biggest losers (in percentage)..............PL.MI FTSE IT allshare index .FTITLMS FTSE Mib index........ .FTMIB FTSE Allstars index... .FTSTAR FTSE Mid Cap index.... .FTITMC Block trades.......... .BLK.MI Stories on Italy...... IT-LEN For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in brackets: European Equities speed guide...................EUR/EQUITY FTSEurofirst 300 index...............................FTEU3 DJ STOXX index.......................................STOXX Top 10 STOXX sectors............................PGL.STOXXS Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors.......................PGL.STOXXES Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors....................PGL.FTEU3S Top 25 European pct gainers........................PG.PEUR Top 25 European pct losers.........................PL.PEUR Main stock markets: Dow Jones................DJI Wall Street report ......N Nikkei 225..............N225 Tokyo report.............T FTSE 100................FTSE London report............L Xetra DAX..............GDAXI Frankfurt market stories.F CAC-40..................FCHI Paris market stories....PA World Indices.....................................0#.INDEX Reuters survey of world bourse outlook.........EQUITYPOLL1 Western European IPO diary..........................WEUIPO European Asset Allocation........................EUR/ASSET Reuters News at a Glance: Equities...............TOP/EQE Main currency report:...............................FRX/ ($1 = 0.8508 euros)