LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - Italian banking shares rose in choppy trading on Tuesday following Unicredit's CRDI.MI latest efforts to bolster its balance sheet punctuating an otherwise quiet open for European stock markets.
The STOXX 600 .STOXX was up 0.3 percent after opening slightly lower. Italy's banking index .FTIT8300 was up 1.3 percent.
Also in Italy, Mediaset MS.MI shares surged 25 percent after French media group Vivendi 's VIV.PA reported stake in the company stoked talk of a hostile bid. CRDI.MI shares quickly reversed its early losses and were trading up more than 3 percent. The bank, hobbled by concerns over bad debts and a capital shortfall, said it would raise 13 billion euros ($13.83 billion) in the country's biggest share issue. dei Paschi di Siena BMPS.MI rose 2.4 percent after a Treasury source said on Monday that Italy was ready to pump capital into the bank it failed to get the 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) it needed to remain in business from private investors. Life SL.L shares fell 3.1 percent and were the top losers on the STOXX 600 following a downgrade at Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn).