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Italian equities

finish lower

MILAN: Italian shares closed lower in listless trade with volumes on the futures market outstripping cash transactions.

All-share Mibtel index closed 0.29 percent lower at 1043, Traders estimated volume at 402 billion lire, down from 475 billion on Tuesday. Blue chip MIB30 down 0.28 percent at 15547.

Olivetti (OLIV.MI) and CIR (CIRX.MI) make gains against the market trend in what traders said was a technical rebound.

The FIB30 September contract closes eight points lower at 15720 with 3,026 contract traded.

There is no fundamental explanation for the rebound in Olivetti and CIR but after the declines of recent days a technical recovery was on the cards", a Milan broker said.

Shares in Italcementi (ITAI.MI) firmed after the cement company denied market rumours that it was planning a capital increase but closed 1.66 percent lower on the day at 11,566 lire. Shares earlier sank to 11,420 lire on the rumours.

Insurer SAI (SIII.MI) was well bought, closing 0.9 percent higher at 19,917 lire, not far short of the year's high of 20,290 lire. Traders said they expected the share to rise above 20,000 lire in coming days.

Prime Minister Lamberto Dini's remarks that he hoped lower inflation would prevent further rises in interest rates were well received but came too late to have a measurable impact on trading.

Telecom shares, one of the mainstays of the market, were weaker, with Telecom Italia (TELI.MI) shedding 10 lire to close at 2,848 lire in volume of 7.45 million shares.-Reuter