NEW YORK -- Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's announcement that he would soon step down spooked the country's financial markets Monday, highlighting the European economy's continuing fragility.
Italy's benchmark FTSE MIB stock index dropped 345 points, or 2.2%, to 15,354.
Yields on the country's 10-year bond, meanwhile, jumped -- a sign of investor worry. The 10-year note saw its largest intra-day increase since September 2011, according to Tradeweb, with yields closing at 4.83%, up from 4.55% at Friday's close.
