News: QUB Italy - Factors to watch on March 18

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

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	POLITICS 

Europe should avoid "grand statements" and contradictions but rather have a clear and unified strategy against Russia with regards to its war in Ukraine, Italy's defence minister said, adding that Rome would never send troops to the conflict zone.

The European Union announced a 7.4 billion euro ($8.1 billion) funding package and an upgraded relationship with Egypt on Sunday, part of a push to stem migrant flows to Europe criticised by rights groups.

ECONOMY The average rate on new house mortgages was down to 3.9% in February with respect to 3.98% in January, banking association ABI said on Saturday. Banks charged on average a 5.37% rate on new corporate loans compared with 5.48% the month before, the group added. Overall, the average rate on loans to households and businesses was stable at 4.78%.

Italy's gross domestic product in the first quarter of the year is expected to come in weak, the CSC research unit of the country's business lobby Confindustria wrote on Saturday. Despite low inflation, increasing consumer confidence and a services sector that is growing, the economy is bogged down by a protracted slowdown in trade due to the Suez Canal crisis, high oil prices and interest rate cuts being postponed.

COMPANIES AMPLIFON AMPF.MI The hearing aid retailer said on Friday it plans to boost voting rights, becoming one of the first Italian listed companies to take advantage of a recently approved capital markets bill.

TELECOM ITALIA (TIM) TLIT.MI Chief Executive Pietro Labriola has warned investors the company could need to raise billions in capital if the planned sale of its network to U.S. fund KKR KKR.N collapsed, two sources briefed on the matter said on Friday.

French hedge fund Qube increased its net short position to 0.64% of the company's capital as of March 14, a filing by Italy's market watchdog CONSOB showed on Friday.

Labriola tells Corriere della Sera on Sunday this his firm could receive almost 3 billion euros in earn-outs in the coming years, adding that the sale of Sparkle will "help speed up shareholder remuneration considerations." He says he hopes Vivendi will remain a shareholder and be represented on the board.

BANCA POPOLARE DI SONDRIO BPSI.MI , BANCA GENERALI BGN.MI FTSE share indices revision effective as of Monday, Banca Popolare di Sondrio joins Italy's blue-chip index replacing Banca Generali.

FINECOBANK FBK.MI The Italian bank on Friday passed the European Central Bank's asset quality review, as no capital shortfalls were identified.

STMicroelectronics STMMI.MI , STMPA.PA The Italian government has told Paris it is against a new three-year mandate for Chief Executive Jean-Marc Chery, seen as responsible for shifting the chipmaker's main interests away from Italy and pushing away Italian managers, la Repubblica reported on Saturday.

IPO, 2I RETE GAS Italy's second-largest gas distributor 2i Rete Gas has picked five banks as global coordinators to manage its initial public offer (IPO), two sources close to the matter said on Friday.

ENERGY The Italian branch of Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI), Q8, said on Saturday that it would buy a 50% stake in Italian biodiesel producer, EcoFox, as part of efforts to reduce its fossil-fuel emissions.

M&A Private Equity Advent, buyout fund CVC, Eqt, U.S. fund KKR, HIG and Apollo are all expected to file separate offers for a stake of about 40% in Gruppo San Donato, Italy's largest private healthcare group, in a deal that could give the group a total value of 5 billion euros, Corriere della Sera reported on Saturday, citing sources close to the dossier.

INTERPUMP GROUP ITPG.MI Board meeting on FY results (Q4 results released on Feb. 14).

INDUSTRIE DE NORA DNR.MI Board meeting on FY results, followed by conference call.

DIARY Rome, ceremony for the issue of a stamp dedicated to the Association of Italian Historical Trademarks and presentation of the report "Italy of historical brands" (1000 GMT); expected attendees include Industry Minister Adolfo Urso, Association of Italian Historical Trademarks President Massimo Caputi.

Milan, 'NEXT Forum' "Empowering Future Leaders" starts (1330 GMT); ends on March 19. Expected attendees include Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, Deutsche Bundesbank board member Sabine Mauderer, International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) Director General Rafael Grossi, EU Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner Iliana Ivanova, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McCain.

Milan, Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI holds event "Caregivers, demographic changes and new protection needs in a changing society. The Intesa Sanpaolo Group's solutions" (1330 GMT).

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	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 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

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