Italian blue-chip shares fell deeper into negative territory on Wednesday after economic data showed that the country had unexpectedly fallen back into recession in the second quarter, Reuters reported. The Italy FTSE MIB index was down 2.2 percent at 0921 GMT, extending losses after preliminary gross-domestic-product data for the second quarter showed a 0.2 percent fall. The index is down 13.4 percent from its June highs. The GDP figure was below all forecasts in a Reuters survey of 25 analysts, which had pointed to a second-quarter gain of 0.2 percent. Forecasts ranged from a 0.1 percent fall to a gain of 0.4 percent. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 was down 1.3 percent , with concerns over geopolitical tension in Ukraine also weighing on shares.
