ROME, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Italian Stock Exchange suffered a significant one-day decline on Friday, despite Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni downplaying fears over U.S. tariffs that triggered the sell-off.

The Milan-based bourse ended the day down 6.53 percent and the FTSE Italia All-Share is firmly in the red, down 6.44 percent at 36,716 points.

The FTSE MIB index has now lost ground in eight of the last nine trading sessions, pushed lower mostly by investor concerns over the economic impacts of U.S. sweeping global tariffs.

Stock markets across Europe lost ground in recent days, but Italy has proved particularly vulnerable due to what was already slow economic growth and the country's high dependence on exports. Around 10 percent of Italian exports across all sectors are destined for the United States.

Food and wine companies, Italian and French automaker Stellantis, and financial services companies have all been battered in recent sessions.

Meloni attempted to assuage investor, arguing that the impacts of the new U.S. tariffs were overblown.

"I am obviously concerned because this is a problem we have to resolve," Meloni said Friday. "But I do not see it as the catastrophe I have been hearing about over the last few days. Paradoxically, the reaction has worried me more than the tariffs themselves."

"We have to beware of all the scaremongering we've been seeing," Meloni added. Enditem

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