Italian Financial Markets Plunge: Italian investors, who...

Italian Financial Markets Plunge: Italian investors, who drove Italy’s financial markets to record highs for the year Monday on the prospect of a majority government, sent stocks and bonds lower as a right-wing coalition failed to win a decisive victory. The failure of the Freedom Alliance to win a majority in the Senate, combined with heightened factionalism within the alliance, could mean that media magnate Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, the main party, may have to water down some of its more radical free-market policies, analysts said. The uncertainties sent the stock market down 208 points, or almost 2%, to 10,911.