Around the World's Markets: Milan

WORRIES OVER the escalation of the crisis in Kosovo pushed Italian shares sharply lower. The all-share Mibtel index closed down 1.15 per cent at 24,403, having touched a low of 24,247 earlier in the day. Sentiment was also unnerved by a series of technical problems which halted derivatives trading several times during the day.

Telecom Italia was one of the few gainers, closing up 1.38 per cent at 9.7 euros.