July 10, 2011, 1:10 p.m. EDT
Italian sell-off prompts emergency euro zone meet
By MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Top officials of the European Council, the European Central Bank and the European Commission will hold an emergency meeting Monday to discuss the possibility that the debt crisis could spread to Italy from Greece, according to a media report Sunday.
LEE ADLERThe meeting comes in the wake of the sharp sell-off in Italian assets on Friday, Reuters reported, citing three unnamed official sources.
On Friday, Italian government bond yields jumped, as did the cost of insuring Italian sovereign debt against default, as worries grew over Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti’s possible exit.
The finance minister was tied to a corruption investigation involving a member of parliament and former aide. Conflicts between Tremonti and Silvio Berlusconi’s conservative government have also been rising. Read more: Political turmoil puts Italy in spotlight.
