Italy's stock market ends sharply lower Friday amid Ukraine worries

ROME, March 4 (Xinhua) -- The Italian Stock Exchange extended its losing streak on Friday, falling 6.2 percent in the final trading session of the week based on investor jitters tied to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

With Friday's losses, the main blue chip index ended at 22,465 points, its lowest level in more than a year. The last time the Milan bourse's main index was so low was on Jan. 29, 2021, midway through an 18-month climb as Italy emerged from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. The index reached its recent peak -- a 13-year high -- when it briefly surpassed the 28,000-point barrier last November.

Including Friday's losses, the exchange has now lost ground in ten of the last 12 trading sessions. Though that period started before Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, analysts have said that worries that the conflict will continue to escalate were the main factor spooking investors.

Over the last dozen sessions, the index has lost more than 12 percent of its value.

In Friday's trading, the biggest losers were former state phone monopoly Telecom Italia, which saw its shares lose 15.6 percent of their value, and Italy's two largest banks, UniCredit and Banca Intesa San Paolo, which lost 14.6 percent and 9.0 percent of their value, respectively.

The banks were hurt in part by Italy's decision to join a movement sanctioning some Russian banks by removing them from the international SWIFT transfer system.