2018-11-26
Italian stocks jumped on Monday on mounting signs of a decline on the part of the Italian government, which has drawn up its budget deficit plans on a path towards punitive measures from the European Union.
 
The ruling coalition is discussing reducing the budget deficit target next year to up to 2 percent of GDP instead of 2.4 percent as it is in the draft budget, a government source said on Monday.
 
The Stoxx 600 European index gained 1.1 percent and the euro zone's leading stock index jumped 1.3 percent, while the Italian stock index rose 3 percent.
 
The Italian banking sector index jumped 53 percent, possibly the strongest daily performance since June.
 
Shares in UniCredit and Intesa San Paolo topped Italian gains and were Europe's biggest gainers with gains of 4.7 and 4.3 percent respectively. Obi Bank, BPM, BBR Bank and Mediupnka rose between 3.7 and 4.1 percent.