The country's leading bank Unicredit was hit the hardest, dropping 6.13 while Intesa Sanpaolo Bank slumped 3.81 percent, Banco Popolare lost 5.80 percent and Banca Popolare di Milano shed 5.21 percent.

10-year bond rates remained steady at 5.301 percent, with the spread or difference above the eurozone benchmark German 10-year Bund rate rose to 2.44 percentage points.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011