Short-selling In Banca Monte Dei Paschi Shares Temporarily Banned

Shares in Italy's Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA rose as much 17% to 0.31 euros (34 U.S. cents) on Wednesday following a temporary halt in short-selling of the stock. Italian securities regulator Consob banned short-selling of shares in Italy's third-largest lender through Wednesday. The move came as BMPS shares this week hit all-time lows as the European Central Bank pushes the company to reduce the amount of nonperforming loans on its books. This year, the shares have lost nearly 77%.