Milan, Feb 28, 2026, 08:19 CET — Market closed
- Late in the week, Milan’s losses deepened as banks slid, sparked by sharp declines for Monte dei Paschi and Mediobanca.
- FTSE MIB hovered close to its recent peaks, with select industrial stocks picking up demand.
- Monday brings traders back to the MPS-Mediobanca schedule, with eyes peeled for regulatory cues.
The FTSE MIB retreated 0.45% to 47,210 in Milan on Friday, weighed down by sharp losses in banking stocks. Monte dei Paschi di Siena tumbled 6.7%, while Mediobanca lost 6.2%—both logging the steepest drops of the session.
The late pullback wasn’t enough to wipe out gains for the week. The FTSE MIB managed to finish about 1.6% above last Friday’s close, after hitting a session peak of 47,650.97—right up near its 52-week highs, according to Investing.com data.
Timing played a role here. Bank stocks across Europe slumped Friday, hit by investor jitters over credit risks and the threat of new technologies shaking up parts of the sector—a drag felt sharply in Milan’s bank-heavy market. “Potential irregularities in the mortgage space” are adding to the pressure, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank. Reuters
In Milan, market participants pointed to jitters around the share-swap ratio—the rate dictating how much stock investors receive in exchange—as the main drag on MPS and Mediobanca. Fresh speculation that the government might pare back its remaining stake added to the pressure. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared that Rome’s involvement with MPS was finished, though someone familiar with the issue told Reuters the Treasury isn’t planning to offload its 4.9% share anytime soon.
Banks are contending with a regular flow of capital and oversight updates. The Bank of Italy has ordered Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit to post an additional 1.25% “O‑SII” capital buffer, a layer set aside for lenders tagged as systemically important. Monte dei Paschi di Siena and BPER face a 0.50% buffer requirement, but that kicks in from April 1, 2026. Bank of Italy
Stellantis shares found buyers after the automaker posted a 20.1 billion euro net loss for the back half of 2025, the hit coming from writedowns tied to scaling back its EV targets. CEO Antonio Filosa told analysts, “the answer is very easy, it is yes,” when pressed on whether North America and Europe would swing back to positive operating income. Stellantis also highlighted tariff-driven costs set to rise, projecting a 1.6 billion euro bill for this year. Reuters
Prysmian lent some lift too, projecting 2026 adjusted EBITDA between 2.63 and 2.78 billion euros, with free cash flow expected in the 1.30-1.40 billion euro range. CEO Massimo Battaini flagged that higher U.S. import duties “will continue to add costs” for cable importers, but noted this could ultimately give Prysmian a shot at picking up market share. Reuters
Rome made a push to polish its image with investors, green-lighting a decree aimed at letting financial firms cut penalty payments if they strike deals with regulators. Minor infractions? No sanctions under the new plan. Junior Treasury Minister Federico Freni described the approach as supervision “cooperation” instead of a crackdown. Reuters
Still, the risks haven’t gone anywhere. Should MPS fail to secure an exchange ratio palatable to investors, or if the state accelerates its sell-off unexpectedly, shares of the bank might continue to be a drag on the index. That’s in play with Europe’s lenders already twitchy about signs of credit stress.
When trading picks up again Monday, March 2, all eyes remain fixed on the MPS-Mediobanca deal timeline. MPS isn’t disclosing the share-swap ratio until March 10, stretching out the limbo—something traders claim is keeping the market more unsettled than they’d anticipated.
