Investing.com - Italian bank stocks topped the poor performers list in midday trade on Monday, as investors fled the sector following the weekend publication of Europe-wide stress tests.
The Italian banking index was down 1.9% in Milan by 6:40AM ET (1140GMT).
Though they eased past the tests' adverse scenario requirements, investors worried the macro assumptions for Italy were a little too optimistic.
The stress tests were carried out by the European Banking Authority (EBA) and the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) to gauge the health of the European banking system.
Banco Bpm (MI:BAMI) shares lost 3% after Italy's third-largest bank fared poorly in the health-check. Rivals Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) and Unicredit (MI:CRDI) were also lower, dropping about 2% each.
UBI Banca (MI:UBI), the only other Italian bank stress-tested by the EBA, lost 1.6%.
Meanwhile, Bper Banca (MI:EMII) slumped 4.5% after Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) downgraded shares of the lender to "sell", citing more cuts to earnings forecasts.