Italy's leading financial index gains in Wednesday trading

Spread between Italian,German bonds closes at 177.7 basis points

(ANSA) - Milan, May 21 - Italy's main financial market, like most other European exchanges, rose on Wednesday, shaking off concerns about the upcoming European Parliament elections. The FTSE Mib rose by 1.06% to close at 20,597 points while on the Italian bond market, the spread between Italy's benchmark 10-year bond and its ultra-safe German counterpart closed at 177.7 basis points. The yield on Italy's 10-year paper ended trading at 3.198%.

The spread between lending rates in the two countries is an important indication of investor confidence in the Italian economy. It had widened to the range of 200 basis points during trading Wednesday after inching up in recent days over concerns about the outcome of the European Parliament elections. Voting is scheduled for Sunday in Italy and financial markets are concerned that the vote across Europe could yield strong results for parties that oppose austerity measures.

Investors have also been downcast over weak economic numbers in many parts of the eurozone, including Italy. On other European markets, Spain's IBEX 35 rose by 0.68%, and Frankfurt's DAX rose by 0.51%. In Paris, the CAC 40 rose by 0.31%, while in London, the FTSE index of leading British shares rose by 0.10%.