The return to Borsa Italiana's main index, expected on March 20, is another sign of recovery for the bank, which went through a state bailout and de-facto nationalisation in 2017. MPS is currently in the FTSE MID Cap index and left the blue-chip index in March 2017. At 1536 GMT, its stock was up by more than 3.6%, outperforming Italy's bank sub-index . MPS shares have gained more than 40% since the start of the year and the Tuscan lender now has a market capitalisation of around 3.4 billion euros ($36.04 billion). One trader said MPS' stock has benefited from very high liquidity following November's 2.5-billion-euro new share issue, making it eligible for blue-chip status. At the same time, Italian cement maker Buzzi Unicem is "very likely" to be downgraded from the blue-chip to the FTSE MID Cap index, the trader said.
($1 = 0.9433 euros) (Reporting by Giancarlo Navach, writing by Alvise Armellini, editing by Cristina Carlevaro and Sharon Singleton)