Italy - Factors to watch on May 12

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 (*).

For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on IT/DIA.

ECONOMY

(*) The U.S. and China ended high-stakes trade talks on a positive note on Sunday, with U.S. officials touting a "deal" to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, while Chinese officials said the sides had reached "important consensus" and agreed to launch another new economic dialogue forum.

Bank of Italy releases March data on Italian residents deposits with domestic banks, banks lending to non-financial companies and gross bad loans at Italian banks.

POLITICS

Major European powers threw their weight behind an unconditional 30-day Ukraine ceasefire on Saturday, with the backing of U.S. President Donald Trump, and threatened President Vladimir Putin with "massive" new sanctions if he did not accept within days.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy responded guardedly on Sunday to a proposal from Russian President Vladimir Putin of rapid direct talks aimed at ending the war, saying Kyiv was willing to talk but only after Moscow agreed to a ceasefire.

COMPANIES

UNICREDIT CRDI.MI

(*) Italy's second-biggest bank strengthened its 2025 outlook on Monday after posting a surprise increase in first-quarter profit, and said it would pursue deals only if they further improved its "unmatched standalone case".

Conference call on first-quarter earnings at 0800 GMT.

Some board members are seeking clarity from CEO Andrea Orcel on his M&A plans and have asked him to explain the way forward, two sources said, after a spat with the Italian government delivered another setback to his ambition to grow.

(*) CEO Andrea Orcel will update UniCredit's board on the bank's bid for Banco BPM only after having talks with the Italian government over the conditions Rome has set on the offer under it so-called 'golden powers' rules, Il Giornale reported on Monday.

Germany's new finance minister Lars Klingbeil voiced opposition on Friday to a possible takeover of Commerzbank CBKG.DE by the Italian bank, the German news agency DPA reported.

The European Commission has competences on competition but not on national security, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Saturday when asked about possible opposition from Brussels to 'golden power' conditions that the Rome government has set on the UniCredit-Banco BPM BAMI.MI deal.

(*) TELECOM ITALIA TLIT.MI, POSTE ITALIANE PST.MI

Telecom Italia has discussed a potential merger with French rival Iliad, CEO Pietro Labriola said in an interview with Corriere della Sera's weekly L'Economia published on Monday.

Given the size of the two companies, a deal would be "a good solution for possible synergies and for the network efficiency, as we have frequencies close to each other," he said.

Labriola added that a possible merger between Iliad and Italian telecoms firm Wind Tre would also help rationalise the market.

(*) MFE-MEDIAFOREUROPE (MFE) MEB.MI

Czech investment group PPF on Monday offered to buy shares in ProSiebenSat.1 to lift its stake in the media group to close to 30%, countering takeover plans by majority shareholder MFE-MediaForEurope.

ProSiebenSat.1 said in a statement its executive board welcomed the offer.

STELLANTIS STLAM.MI

The automaker is nearing the end of its search for a new CEO and Italian Antonio Filosa, head of its North American operations, is emerging as the leading candidate, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

LEONARDO LDOF.MI, IVECO IVG.MI

The non-binding offer that Leonardo and its German partner Rheinmetall RHMG.DE have filed for the defence business of Iveco Group IVG.MI is worth just under 1.5 billion euros, Il Fatto Quotidiano reported on Sunday quoting "authoritative sources close to the dossier."

Franco-German defence group KNDS has offered more, above 1.5 billion euros, and some unspecified funds have also expressed an interest in Iveco's unit, the paper added, again citing sources close to the dossier.

POPOLARE SONDRIO BPSI.MI, BPER EMII.MI

Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti told reporters on Saturday he did not know if and how BPER's takeover bid on Pop Sondrio would succeed, but said he hoped it would take into account local territorial needs.

WEBUILD WBD.MI

Italy's largest construction company said on Saturday it was ready to invest nearly 900 million euros to build desalination plants in the southern Italian region of Sicily to help solve the water crisis.

FINCANTIERI FCT.MI

Releases Q1 results.

LAZIO LAZI.MI, JUVENTUS JUVE.MI

Lazio substitute Matias Vecino struck a stoppage-time equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw at home to 10-man Juventus in the battle for Champions League qualifying places in Serie A on Saturday.

DIARY

Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti attends Eurogroup meeting in Brussels.

Rome, Italy-Greece summit with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis (0930 GMT).

Verona, 4th preparatory event for the Conference on the Recovery of Ukraine to be held on July 10-11 (0730 GMT); expected attendees include Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction and Minister for the Development of the Communities and Territories of Ukraine Oleksii Kuleba, European Investment Bank (EIB) Vice President Teresa Czerwinska (1300 GMT).

London, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani takes part in "Weimar+" ministerial meeting on Ukraine and European rearmament with counterparts from France, Germany, Britain, Poland, Spain and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

((Milan newsroom, e-mail: reutersitaly@thomsonreuters.com))

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

Block trades.......... .BLK.MI

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

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/