UniCredit denies report of interest in Merrill

MILAN, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Italian banking giant UniCredit (CRDI.MI) denied on Friday a report in Italy's leading business daily that it could be interested in buying a stake in U.S. bank Merrill Lynch MER.N.

"Categorically," a spokesman said in response to a question about whether the bank denied the report. In an unsourced article, Il Sole 24 Ore said the chief executive could be interested in buying a stake in Merrill Lynch. (Reporting by Gilles Castonguay)