Italian stocks see value fall 3.78%

Italy's stock market has closed down 3.78% this evening, amid uncertainty after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would resign this month when parliament adopts key economic reforms.

The country's President Giorgio Napolitano earlier promised that talks on a new government would begin "immediately" after Berlusconi's exit.

Earlier today, Italian borrowing costs soared to the levels that pushed Ireland and Portugal into a multibillion euro bailout from the EU and IMF.

The yield on 10-year government bonds has reached more than 7%, the highest since the euro was founded in 1999.