Milan bourse closes down before Fitch downgrades Greece

The spread was stable and the Milan stock market closed down Thursday before ratings agency Fitch announced it was downgrading Greece to level CCC, the last stage before default status. The FTSE Mib index lost 1.46% to close at 13,089 points in a bad week of trading. The yield spread between 10-year Italian and German bonds, an indicator of market confidence in Italy's ability to weather the eurozone crisis, was steady at 435 points. But news of the Fitch downgrade of Greece caused financial analysts to worry about fallout in the eurozone. The Milan bourse suffered the worst losses in Europe after Greece said it would hold new elections Tuesday, and the spread has soared above 450 points this week after closing at 399 on Friday. "The downgrade reflects the exacerbated risk that Greece may no longer be fit to sustain its place in the economic and monetary union," said Fitch.