The following factors could affect Italian markets on Tuesday.

Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).

For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on IT/DIA.

(*) GENERAL

Pope Francis, 88, died unexpectedly on Monday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, the Vatican said, ending an often turbulent reign in which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalised.

POLITICS

U.S. President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni each expressed confidence on Thursday that the United States and Europe would be able to negotiate a trade deal before his 90-day pause on some tariffs ends.

Trump agreed to an official visit to Rome and will consider also meeting representatives of the European Union while there, Meloni said on Thursday in the Oval Office.

(*) After the Pope's death on Monday, Trump said he would attend the pontiff's funeral in Rome. The two leaders could meet on that occasion, reported La Stampa, adding that Meloni could use the moment to set up.

ECONOMY

Italy will meet NATO's 2% of gross domestic product $(GDP)$ target on defence spending this year through a series of accounting changes, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said at a parliamentary hearing on Thursday.

Italy's gross domestic product $(GDP.UK)$ is expected to have posted "modest growth" in the first quarter of 2025, business lobby Confindustria said on Friday. It also estimated that U.S. tariffs would lower Italian growth by 0.3 percentage points in 2025-2026.

After her meeting with Trump on Thursday, Meloni said Italy will have to increase imports of liquified natural gas $(LNG)$ and said Italian firms would invest billions of dollars in the U.S. in the coming years.

She denied talks with Trump over possible deal between Elon Musk's Starlink and Rome for encrypted satellite communications, but said Italy would work with the U.S. on Mars missions.

DEBT

Credit ratings agency Morningstar DBRS reviewed Italy on Friday and made no change to its sovereign debt rating or outlook, which remain "BBB (high), positive trend."

Treasury announces sale of BTP Short and BTPei bonds, with relative amounts to be auctioned on April 24.

Treasury announces sale of six-month BOT bills, with relative amounts to be auctioned on April 28.

COMPANIES

UNICREDIT CRDI.MI, BANCO BPM BAMI.MI

Italy has cleared with conditions UniCredit's takeover bid for rival Banco BPM, with sources saying a speedier exit from Russia is among demands set by Rome for the bank led by CEO Andrea Orcel.

The bank said the merit of the prescriptions was unclear and it would take "time to assess the viability and impact of the prescriptions."

In addition to stopping all activities in Russia by January 18, 2026, the conditions include a request that the loan-to-deposit ratio, which is currently higher for Banco BPM than UniCredit, is not lowered for five years and that Anima Holding's ANIM.MI investments in Italian securities remain unchanged for the same period of time. UniCredit has also been asked to support Anima's development, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

In an interview with la Repubblica on Sunday Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he had agreed to the conditions that were set for the UniCredit-BPM deal during Friday's cabinet meeting only after securing a nine month reprieve for the request the bank leaves Russia given that an immediate exit would be damaging for Italian companies operating there. Tajani reiterated he thought the government's decision was problematic from a legal standpoint.

Corriere della Sera on Sunday also said that the conditions included a request that of the 183 branches UniCredit-BPM would be expected to sell for antitrust reasons, none should be BPM's branches in Lombardy. The document also urged UniCredit to immediately inform "the authority in charge of monitoring progress" were it unable to meet the conditions, it said.

(*) The bank's legal team worked during the weekend to draw up a response to the government's decision, which will involve the European Central Bank, the European Banking Authority as well as Bank of Italy, market watchdog Consob and the antitrust regulator, La Stampa reported on Monday.

(*) Corriere della Sera and Il Messaggero both added that the lender is considering appealing to a regional administrative court against the government's decision.

INTESA SANPAOLO ISP.MI, UNICREDIT

Following its surprise upgrade of Italy's sovereign rating this month, S&P on Friday improved the long-term rating of the country's top two banks to 'BBB+' from 'BBB'.

The outlook on Intesa's rating is stable, while UniCredit's has a positive outlook. UniCredit's chances of being rated above the domestic sovereign "depend partly on the bank's final shape and balance sheet following the outcome of the potential Banco BPM and Commerzbank transactions."

BANCO BPM

S&P on Friday upgraded the bank's outlook to 'positive', confirming its 'BBB/A-2' ratings.

GENERALI GASI.MI

Shareholder Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone told Sunday's Il Sole 24 Ore that his slate of nominees for the insurer's new board, which will be voted in on Thursday, "does not include any names of candidates to lead the company but it's sufficiently long to ask shareholders to block the shameful Natixis deal." To pursue cost cuts, the tie-up would lead to the dismantling of a structure within Generali that works well, make it impossible to effectively select and control investments and expected returns, weaken risk controls, Caltagirone said.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) said on Friday it would vote in favour of another term for Chief Executive Philippe Donnet at the Italian insurer's annual general meeting. The Norwegian fund holds a stake of 1.2% in the Italian insurer.

UniCredit's stake in Generali is of 6-7%, Milano Finanza reported on Saturday.

(*) Generali has not received any request for further information on its agreement with Natixis by insurance regulator Ivass and has not, to date, submitted any approval request to the authority, the insurer said in written answers to shareholders, published on Monday, ahead of its annual meeting on April 24.

BPER EMII.MI, BANCA POPOLARE DI SONDRIO BPSI.MI

Shareholders on Friday approved with 99.9% of votes the share issue needed to finance the buyout offer for Banca Popolare di Sondrio. Meanwhile, the government gave an unconditional green light to the transaction, by saying it saw no reason to exercise 'golden powers' it has to vet deals on assets that are deemed of strategic national importance.

S&P on Friday upgraded the bank's ratings to 'BBB/A-2' from 'BBB/A-3', lowering the outlook to stable.

UniCredit holds 2.8% of Popolare di Sondrio, la Repubblica reported on Saturday citing financial sources. The paper cited UniCredit as saying the position is held partly on behalf of clients and for the rest as part of trading activities.

(*) Bper aims to launch its bid on Popolare di Sondrio in June in order to end it between late July and early August, CEO Gianni Franco Papa told Il Sole 24 Ore in an interview published on Monday. He added that BPER was still open to talk to Popolare Sondrio's management, who opposes the deal.

MEDIOBANCA MDBI.MI, FINECOBANK FBK.MI, MEDIOLANUM BMED.MI,

S&P on Friday upgraded the three bank's long-term rating to 'BBB+' from 'BBB', confirming a stable outlook.

Jefferies on Monday downgraded Banca Mediolanum to 'hold' citing downside risks to consensus EPS. It cut EPS by 5%-8%, respectively, at Fineco and Mediolanum, factoring in the mark-to-market of AuM balances.

MONTE DEI PASCHI BMPS.MI, MEDIOBANCA

The Tuscan bank expects to launch its 12.5 billion euro ($14 billion) takeover offer for Mediobanca in the summer, after securing shareholder approval on Thursday for the hostile bid.

STELLANTIS STLAM.MI

Stellantis and China's Leapmotor 9863.HK will launch a local assembly project in Malaysia, with initial investment at 5 million euros ($5.69 million), the French-Italian carmaker said in a statement on Friday.

SNAM SRG.MI

The Italian government has chosen a former top manager of power network company Terna, Agostino Scornajenchi, state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti $(CDP)$ said on Thursday.

SAIPEM SPM.MI

The Italian oilfield services company said on Thursday it had renewed its framework agreement with Saudi Aramco until the end of 2027.

(*) INWIT INWT.MI

The infrastructure group said on Tuesday it started the first tranche, worth 300 million euros of its buyback, for a maximum of 400 million euros.

(*) BANCA MEDIOLANUM BMED.MI

Jefferies on Monday cut the shares to 'Hold' from 'Buy'

JUVENTUS FC JUVE.MI

Carmaker Jeep is set to pay almost 25 million euros ($28 million) annually to get its brand back on the black-and-white shirts of the top Italian soccer club, two sources close to the matter told Reuters on Thursday.

Juventus confirmed ongoing discussions with top-tier partners for front-jersey sponsorship agreements but added, in a statement, that no agreements have been finalised, and outcomes remain uncertain, it said in a statement.

LAZIO LAZI.MI

The Roman club was on Thursday eliminated from the Europa League after losing in a penalty shoot-out a quarter final return game at home against Norwegian side Bodo/Glimt.

BEGHELLI BE.MI

Second of two-day suspension from trading ahead of de-listing on April 23.

((Milan newsroom, e-mail: reutersitaly@thomsonreuters.com))

For Italian market data and news, click on codes in brackets:

20 biggest gainers (in percentage).............PG.MI

20 biggest losers (in percentage)..............PL.MI

FTSE IT allshare index .FTITLMS

FTSE Mib index........ .FTMIB

FTSE Allstars index... .FTSTAR

FTSE Mid Cap index.... .FTITMC

Block trades.......... .BLK.MI

Stories on Italy...... IT-LEN

For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in brackets:

European Equities speed guide...................EUR/EQUITY

FTSEurofirst 300 index...............................FTEU3

DJ STOXX index.......................................STOXX

Top 10 STOXX sectors............................PGL.STOXXS

Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors.......................PGL.STOXXES

Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors....................PGL.FTEU3S

Top 25 European pct gainers........................PG.PEUR

Top 25 European pct losers.........................PL.PEUR

Main stock markets:

Dow Jones................DJI Wall Street report ......N

Nikkei 225..............N225 Tokyo report.............T

FTSE 100................FTSE London report............L

Xetra DAX..............GDAXI Frankfurt market stories.F

CAC-40..................FCHI Paris market stories....PA

World Indices.....................................0#.INDEX

Reuters survey of world bourse outlook.........EQUITYPOLL1

Western European IPO diary..........................WEUIPO

European Asset Allocation........................EUR/ASSET

Reuters News at a Glance: Equities...............TOP/EQE

Main currency report:...............................FRX/