Milan bourse regains ground

Milan's FTSE-100 outperforms Europe, closing +1.12%

(ANSA) - Milan, May 16 - Most of Europe's benchmark indexes recovered Friday after Thursday's sell-off, which was triggered in Italy by a surprise contraction of first-quarter GDP. In Milan, the FTSE-100 index outperformed other European listings, advancing by 1.12% to close at 20,648 points as investors snapped up banking shares that were driven down in yesterday's pullback as well as shares in Italian down jacket maker Moncler (+6.17%) after the company declared first-quarter revenue rose 16%.

The Milan bourse plunged by 3.61% on Thursday, cutting away as much as 3.17 billion euros in value on the day. Bond yields also softened Friday and the spread between Italian bonds and their ultra-safe German counterparts, which widened dramatically to 184 points on Thursday, narrowed again to end the week at 173 points.

Shares also advanced in Madrid, where the IBEX index closed up 1.1% at 10,478.70 points, and in Paris, where the CAC-40 index gained 0.26% to close at 4,456.28 points. London's FTSE-100 index rose by 0.22% to end the trading day at 6,855.81 points. Friday's losers were the German DAX index, which slipped by 0.28% to close at 9,629.10 points, and the Greek ATHEX index, which plunged 3.15% to end at 1,088.25 points.