MILAN, Sept 1 (Reuters) - The following factors could affect
Italian markets on Tuesday.
Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot
vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).
FIAT (FIA.MI)
* August new car registrations in Italy, due 1600 GMT, are
expected to rise 9 percent from a year earlier, Il Giornale said
citing unamed car manufacturers.
The vehicle group's Magneti Marelli unit has signed an
agreement with Italy's FAAM SpA for development, production and
sale of lithium batteries, Fiat said on Monday. [ID:nLV359810]
The company will present its new environmentally-friendly
Punto Evo model at the Frankfurt car showbefore starting sales
in the second half of October, Corriere della Sera and La Stampa
said in unsourced reports.
UTILITIES
Libya's $65 billion sovereign wealth fund aims to buy into
European utilities, drugmakers and other companies with
technology that may be useful for the country, the head of the
Libyan Investment Authority said. [ID:nLV513566]
UNICREDIT (CRDI.MI)
* Pioneer Investments Group, the bank's asset management unit,
has been named a defendant in two more lawsuits related to the
Bernard Madoff swindle, UniCredit said in its first-half report.
The bank is the target of three U.S. class action lawsuits
stemming from the case, it said.
UniCredit also said it believed a possible 100 million euro
legal claim in Slovakia over currency and derivative operations
was unfounded. It has made no provision for the claim.
* INTESA SANPAOLO (ISP.MI)
Credit Suisse raised its price target for the bank's shares
to 3.4 euros from 2.6 euros. It rated the stock "outperform."
* BANCO POPOLARE (BAPO.MI)
Credit Suisse raised its price target for the bank's shares
to 5.35 euros from five euros. It rated the stock
"underperform."
SMALL AND MID CAPS
ASCOPIAVE (ASCI.MI)
The northeastern Italian utility is in talks to set up a gas
joint venture with Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) that could pave
the way for further consolidation of Italian utilities in the
area, Ascopiave's chairman told Reuters. [ID:nLV359735]
RISANAMENTO (RN.MI)
The heavily indebted real estate company has put back a
board meeting aimed at approving a restructuring package and
first-half results. [ID:nN31448868]
Creditor banks plan to provide details of their
restructuring plan to bourse regulator Consob on Tuesday, Il
Sole 24 Ore said without citing sources. Consob could meet on
Wednesday to decide on banks' request for a waiver of a
compulsory takeover bid.
Consob doubts Risanamento's plan is enough to keep the
company going and this delayed the board's decision, Corriere
della Sera said in an unsourced report.
* MARIELLA BURANI (MBFG.MI)
U.S. equity fund Gem is willing to provide a 55 million euro
equity line of credit to the fashion group, MF said, citing
market rumours. A group of Emilia Romagna investors also has
told creditor banks it will guarantee a 100 million euro capital
increase, it said, citing a source close to the issue.
