Italy - Factors to watch on July 5

The following factors could affect Italian markets on Thursday.

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

EURO ZONE

The European Central Bank is widely expected to cut borrowing costs to a record low on Thursday to support a deteriorating euro zone economy and complement measures agreed by government leaders last week to tackle the bloc's debt crisis.

Spain is set to pay high premiums to sell bonds on Thursday, including one at the benchmark 10-year maturity, after an accord between European leaders on supporting periphery debt markets and struggling banks only partially reassured investors.

PUBLIC FINANCES

Italy's cabinet will meet on Thursday afternoon to approve measures to cut spending, a government source said on Wednesday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Italians on Wednesday they cannot expect to reap the rewards of economic reforms in just a few months but the experience of her own country showed that it was worth persevering.

SNAM

The gas distributor priced on Wednesday a 1 billion euro bond due in 2016 to offer a 4.42 percent yield, after attracting orders for nearly 4 billion euros. Around 75 percent of demand came from foreign investors, Snam said.

A banker lead managing the sale told Reuters Snam could come back to the market before the summer break if current relatively favourable conditions held.

FINMECCANICA

Guy Griffiths, a general manager at Britain's BAE Systems , is poised to be appointed as chairman of Finmeccanica's Selex defense electronics unit, whose activities are being reorganised, Il Sole 24 Ore said in an unsourced report on Thursday.

Siemens is preparing an offer for Finmeccanica's Ansaldo Energia unit, Il Sole 24 Ore said on Thursday citing market speculations. The offer may be worth 1.3 billion euros but any deal would require an agreement with shareholders and creditor banks.

IMPREGILO

Italian market regulator Consob has asked both the Gavio and Salini groups battling for control of Italy's biggest builder to disclose more information on their possible conflicts of interest, ANSA news agency reported on Wednesday quoting financial sources.

FONDIARIA-SAI, UNIPOL, MILANO ASSICURAZIONI, PREMAFIN

Italian market regulator Consob is expected on Thursday to say if Unipol must launch a mandatory bid on Milano Assicurazioni's minorities, in a crucial decision for the Unipol-Fondiaria merger project.

The boards of Unipol and Fondiaria meet on Thursday over their planned capital increases. Il Messaggero said on Thursday that the banks have agreed on a price representing a discount of 25 percent to the theoretical ex-rights price (TERP).

BANCA GENERALI

The Italian asset manager said on Thursday it posted net inflows in May of 139 million euros compared to inflows of 219 million euros in May.

TELECOM ITALIA MEDIA

Popular Italian talk-show host Michele Santoro has signed a contract with TI Media's La7 TV-channel, La7 head of news Enrico Mentana said on Wednesday.

La7 is due to present next season's programming on Thursday.

* CEMENTIR HOLDING

The company said on Wednesday it had completed the acquisition of UK-based NVMH from Matlyn Investments for 8.6 million pounds from Matlyn Investments Limited. The deal was carried out through its Turkish subsidiary Turca Recydia.

PARMALAT

Parent company Lactalis has proposed to close three Parmalat plants in Italy, trade union Uila said in a statement on Wednesday. Uila said it had called for two-hour strike against the plan which would lead to possible 100 job cuts.

MEDIASET

Shares in Italy's biggest commercial broadcaster closed up 5.6 percent on Wednesday after a top executive said Mediaset had received "vague expressions of interest" for potential partnerships with its pay-TV business.

AMPLIFON

Citigroup cut price target to 4.70 euros from 4.90 euros, ratung buy.

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

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