The Italian stock exchange re-opened this afternoon following a 'technical' delay of more than six hours, a day after suffering its worst plunge of the year due to the unrest in Libya.
Market operator Borsa Italiana, part of the London Stock Exchange Group, said the highly unusual suspension of trading was due to a 'technical problem' linked to computer systems but did not give further details.
Its benchmark FTSE Mib index fell 3.6% on Monday to finish the day on 22,230 points, dragged down by worries over Libya-linked companies. Former colonial overlord Italy is a top foreign investor in Libya and the North African state has also invested billions in Italian businesses.
Libya's sovereign wealth fund and veteran ruler Moamer Kadhafi's family own stakes in Italy's biggest bank UniCredit, defence and industry giant Finmeccanica, as well as in the Juventus football club.
Shares in energy major ENI, which has been in Libya since 1959 and produced 244,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2009, dropped 5.1% on Monday.
