Italian banks hurt

TRADERS dumped Italian bank stocks after Eurosceptic parties surged ahead in the country’s election.

Populist parties swept all before them as voters rebelled following years of stagnation and sky- high unemployment in the eurozone.

The country’s biggest lender Unicredit shed 2.1pc and rival Banco BMP fell 4.7pc in Milan, with investors betting that the results will trigger fresh instability.

The radical Five Star Movement won nearly a third of the vote. A Right- wing coalition including Forza Italia and the nationalist Northern League got most votes overall.