Italy Exchange Halted for ‘Technical Issues’ After Plunge
February 22, 2011, 7:07 AM EST
By Marco Bertacche and Francesca Cinelli
(Adds futures market suspension in second paragraph.)
Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Trading on the Italian exchange remained halted because of “technical issues” after the benchmark FTSE MIB Index fell the most in eight months yesterday on concern Libya’s unrest may affect Italian companies.
Borsa Italiana SpA, owned by London Stock Exchange Group Plc, said in a statement on its website that “restoring operations” are underway after stocks failed to open and the futures market was halted at 12:10 p.m. All markets are suspended, the Milan bourse said in a separate statement.
The trading suspension “is something unacceptable,” said Francesco Vercesi, a money manager at Fiduciaria Orefici Sim SpA in Milan. Investors were permitted to cancel orders submitted before the scheduled opening, the exchange said. Futures trading on the FTSE MIB was temporarily halted Jan. 3 because of technical “issues.”
The FTSE MIB yesterday lost 3.6 percent to 22,230.2, the biggest decline since June 29. Impregilo SpA, the country’s largest construction company, plummeted 6.2 percent to 2.31 euros, the biggest loss since April 2009. The company has 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) of projects in Libya, according to Milan broker Equita Sim SpA. UniCredit SpA, the nation’s biggest bank, sank 5.8 percent to 1.87 euros, the largest loss since May.
UniCredit was down 2.1 percent to 1.83 euros at 12:44 p.m. local time on Chi-X Europe Ltd., Europe’s largest alternative trading system. Eni, Europe’s fourth-biggest oil company, was down 2 percent to 17.09 euros. Impregilo was down 6.3 percent to 2.16 euros.
--With assistance from Tommaso Ebhardt and Elisa Martinuzzi in Milan and Alexis Xydias in London. Editors: Dan Liefgreen, Jerrold Colten
To contact the reporter on this story: Marco Bertacche in Milan at mbertacche@bloomberg.net. Francesca Cinelli in Milan at fcinelli@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Merritt at dmerritt1@bloomberg.net. Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net
