Milan suffers most as markets fall after French elections Italian bond spread up

The Milan bourse was the worst hit in early trading on Monday, when the main European stock markets responded badly to Socialist candidate Francois Hollande coming out on top in the first round of the French presidential elections.

Milan's FTSE Mib index lost 3.3% of its stock value and dropped below the 14,000-point mark to 13,980.

Italian bonds came under pressure on the money markets too.

The yield spread between 10-year Italian bonds and the German benchmark, a key indicator of market confidence in Italy's ability to weather the eurozone crisis, climbed back above the psychologically important 400 mark and went up to 410, before dropping back to 406.