The following factors could affect Italian markets on Monday

Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot

vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).

POLITICS

Italy is assessing ways to help families and firms cope with

high energy costs, including a new excise duty cut on petrol and

diesel prices, the office of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said

on Friday.

ECONOMY

The International Monetary Fund confirmed on Friday that

Italy's economy was projected to grow by 0.5% in both 2026 and

2027, while inflation was expected to rise to 2.9% in 2026.

The IMF cited rapid population ageing and weak productivity

as medium-term drags on growth.

It said Italy's public debt remained too high and was

vulnerable to interest-rate and growth shocks, urging

authorities to put debt on a "decisively downward path" while

safeguarding financial stability.

DEBT

The Treasury said on Friday it would sell 7.5 billion euros

in BOT bills at an auction on July 29.

On Monday the Treasury will announce the details for the

medium- and long-term bond auction scheduled for July 30.

COMPANIES

MONTE DEI PASCHI, BANCO BPM, GENERALI

Advisers working on a potential combination between the two

lenders are weighing two options, Milano Finanza reported on

Saturday: a merger, either through the incorporation of MPS into

Banco BPM or vice versa, or a competing takeover offer, most

likely launched by Banco BPM. The alternatives differ in timing,

shareholder involvement and execution risk, the report added.

According to Sunday's Il Sole 24 Ore, the two banks are set

to hold extraordinary board meetings in the coming days to

discuss merger plans. Banco BPM CEO Giuseppe Castagna would

retain his role in the merged entity while MPS CEO Luigi

Lovaglio would become chairman, the paper added.

(*) The extraordinary board meetings could take place on

Sunday, to approve a merger of equals proposed by MPS with a

share and cash offer, funded by the sale of stakes in non-core

assets, such as Generali, Corriere della Sera reported on

Monday.

(*) Given the different market capitalisations of the two

lenders, in order to make the merger of equals more balanced,

MPS could offer an extra dividend to encourage its shareholders

to back the deal, La Stampa reported on Monday, adding this

could be financed by selling Generali stakes. The report added

that Banco's leading shareholder, France's Credit Agricole

, could ask for assets such as bank branches or Banco's

minority stake in consumer credit company Agos, to approve the

deal.

UNICREDIT

The EU has approved a narrow sanctions exemption that could

allow UniCredit to complete a long-delayed transaction involving

Russian businessmen Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, according to

the latest package of measures against Russia.

UNICREDIT, GENERALI

UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel said in an interview with

Sunday's Corriere della Sera daily that he is having meetings

with Generali CEO Philippe Donnet "to talk about possible

industrial cooperation". He also said the bank was "observing

with interest" the likely looming changes in ownership structure

at Generali.

(*) STELLANTIS

Piper Sandler on Monday changed its rating on the carmaker to

'underweight' from 'overweight' and cut the target price to $4

from $ 14.

ENI

Vitol, the world's largest independent oil trader by volume,

said a transaction with the Italian major for assets in the

Republic of Congo had been terminated after reaching a long stop

date in March 2026, a company filing viewed by Reuters showed.

SAIPEM

(*) The energy contractor said on Monday it had been awarded

two contracts by Eni, in the Ivory Coast and in Italy,

with an overall value of around €800 million.

The group holds a board meeting to approve first-half

results.

(*) M&A, PHARMA

Following its acquisition of U.S.-based Catalyst Pharma,

Angelini Pharma is ready to invest further in the rare diseases

sector, Chief Executive Sergio Marullo di Condojanni told

Corriere della Sera's financial supplement L'Economia in an

interview published on Monday. "The Italian pharmaceutical

industry has enormous potential. A national champion can be

created, but it needs to reach a large scale," he said.

ITALGAS

Board meeting on H1 results, followed by an analyst call

(1400 GMT).

For Italian market data and news, click on codes in

brackets:

20 biggest gainers (in percentage).............PG.MI

20 biggest losers (in percentage)..............PL.MI

FTSE IT allshare index .FTITLMS

FTSE Mib index........ .FTMIB

FTSE Allstars index... .FTSTAR

FTSE Mid Cap index.... .FTITMC

Stories on Italy...... IT-LEN

For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in

brackets:

European Equities speed guide...................EUR/EQUITY

FTSEurofirst 300 index...............................FTEU3

DJ STOXX index.......................................STOXX

Top 10 STOXX sectors............................PGL.STOXXS

Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors.......................PGL.STOXXES

Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors....................PGL.FTEU3S

Top 25 European pct gainers........................PG.PEUR

Top 25 European pct losers.........................PL.PEUR

Main stock markets:

Dow Jones................DJI Wall Street report ......N

Nikkei 225..............N225 Tokyo report.............T

FTSE 100................FTSE London report............L

Xetra DAX..............GDAXI Frankfurt market stories.F

CAC-40..................FCHI Paris market stories....PA

World Indices.....................................0#.INDEX

Reuters survey of world bourse outlook.........EQUITYPOLL1

Western European IPO diary..........................WEUIPO

European Asset Allocation........................EUR/ASSET

Reuters News at a Glance: Equities...............TOP/EQE

Main currency report:...............................FRX/