Italy - Factors to watch on January 19

The following factors could affect Italian markets on Monday. Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*). For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on (IT/DIA) . POLITICS Major European Union states decried U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats against European allies over Greenland as blackmail on Sunday, as France proposed responding with a range of previously untested economic countermeasures. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is closer to the U.S. President than some other EU leaders, described the tariff threat on Sunday as “a mistake”, adding she had spoken to Trump a few hours earlier and told him what she thought. ECONOMY The Italian economy probably saw modest expansion in the fourth quarter of last year, the Bank of Italy said on Friday, confirming its full-year forecasts for 2025 and 2026 gross domestic product growth of 0.5% and 0.7% respectively, in line with the government’s latest estimates. COMPANIES BANCA MONTE DEI PASCHI DI SIENA (BMPS.MI) Gruppo Caltagirone, a major investor in the Tuscan bank, said on Friday speculation about a clash with the Italian bank’s CEO Luigi Lovaglio was misplaced, adding the board was merely having discussions over the bank’s strategy and governance. MONTE DEI PASCHI (BMPS.MI) , MEDIOBANCA (MDBI.MI) Monte dei Paschi’s top managers and consultants from Deloitte and McKinsey met in Rome over the weekend to discuss the future strategy for the Siena-based bank and for Mediobanca, according to several Italian newspapers. One of the issues under consideration was the possibility of keeping the Milanese bank listed, as an alternative to the delisting and merger plan. UNICREDIT (CRDI.MI) , GENERALI (GASI.MI) , MPS (BMPS.MI) Five of Leonardo Del Vecchio’s heirs, out of a total of eight, are pressing Delfin’s board to sell the family holding company’s financial stakes, La Repubblica reported on Saturday. These include 2.7% of UniCredit, 17.8% of Monte dei Paschi, 10% of Generali and 23% of the French company Covivio (CVO.PA) . LEONARDO (LDOF.MI) The U.S. subsidiary DRS wants to take part in the Golden Dome project for U.S. defense, CEO Roberto Cingolani said in an interview published on Saturday by Milano Finanza. Cingolani also said that in its upcoming industrial plan the defense group will continue to focus on offering products and services for hybrid warfare. Indonesian authorities said on Sunday they had located the wreckage of a fisheries surveillance plane that went missing in South Sulawesi province on the slope of a fog-covered mountain and had recovered the body of one of the 10 people on board. The ATR 42-500, manufactured by Franco-Italian planemaker ATR (AIR.PA) , is a regional turboprop aircraft capable of carrying between 42 and 50 passengers. IPO Italian tech company Bending Spoons is interviewing banks to lead a potential US IPO likely to take place later this year or early next year, a person involved in the process told IFR on Friday. Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are among the banks that have pitched for the business, IFR reported. Contacted by Reuters Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari declined to comment on the report. Bending Spoons could list 30–35% of the company in a transaction to be carried out in the first quarter of 2027, Il Messaggero reported on Saturday. DIARY Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meets South Korea President Lee Jae Myung and ends her visit to South Korea. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expected to attend World Economic Forum in Davos. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti attends Eurogroup meeting in Brussels. Rome, RESTART event “Shaping Horizons in Future Telecommunications” starts (1330 GMT); ends on January 21. On Monday expected attendees include EU Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen, Open Fiber CEO Giuseppe Gola; Telecom Italia (TIM) (TLIT.MI) CEO Pietro Labriola, INWIT (INWT.MI) General Director Diego Galli. Milan, University holds inauguration ceremony “SHIELD – Strategic Hub for Integrated Education on Leadership & Defense” (1000 GMT); Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani delivers closing address. For Italian market data and news, click on codes in brackets: 20 biggest gainers (in percentage)………… (.PG.MI) 20 biggest losers (in percentage)…………. (.PL.MI) FTSE IT allshare index (.FTITLMS) FTSE Mib index…….. (.FTMIB) FTSE Allstars index… (.FTSTAR) FTSE Mid Cap index…. (.FTITMC) Block trades………. (.BLK.MI) Stories on Italy…… (IT-LEN) For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in brackets: European Equities speed guide………………. (EUR/EQUITY) FTSEurofirst 300 index………………………… (.FTEU3) DJ STOXX index……………………………….. (.STOXX) Top 10 STOXX sectors……………………… (.PGL.STOXXS) Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors…………………. (.PGL.STOXXES) Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors………………. (.PGL.FTEU3S) Top 25 European pct gainers………………….. (.PG.PEUR) Top 25 European pct losers…………………… (.PL.PEUR) Main stock markets: Dow Jones…………… (.DJI) Wall Street report ….. (.N) Nikkei 225…………. (.N225) Tokyo report………… (.T) FTSE 100…………… (.FTSE) London report……….. (.L) Xetra DAX…………. (.GDAXI) Frankfurt market stories (.F) CAC-40…………….. (.FCHI) Paris market stories… (.PA) World Indices………………………………. (0#.INDEX) Reuters survey of world bourse outlook……… (EQUITYPOLL1) Western European IPO diary…………………….. (WEUIPO) European Asset Allocation…………………… (EUR/ASSET) Reuters News at a Glance: Equities…………… (TOP/EQE) Main currency report:…………………………. (FRX/)