Shares in troubled Tuscan lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) surged 13.99% on the Milan bourse Thursday amid rumours American global investment management corporation BlackRock may take a stake in Italy's third-biggest and the world's oldest bank.
The rise, powered by trading of 7.9% of the bank's capital, took the share price to 0.238 euros, its highest since September 12.
Yesterday some 10% of the share value was traded and on Tuesday 6% - amounting to almost a quarter of the capitalisation in three days.
The Siena-based bank's market capitalisation rose to 700 million euros, against 490 million on October 6 when its shares touched lows of 0.17 euros a share. Also feeding the rise, analysts said, were expectations stemming from the upcoming business plan, to be unveiled on Monday.
MPS shares have been rising for the first time since early September after its board on Tuesday night confirmed plans to go ahead with a turnaround plan while also leaving the door open to a privately funded rescue led by former industry minister and former banking industry executive Corrado Passera. The Passera plan was first rejected in July.
It would be an alternative to MPS's current, European Central Bank-approved turnaround plan involving a five-billion-euro capital increase and the securitization of 10 billion euros' worth of non-performing loans (NPLs) with help from Italy's private Atlante fund.
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