By Kim Hjelmgaard
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Italy's gross domestic product declined by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, compared to the three months in the prior quarter, Italy's statistical office, ISTAT, said on Monday. Compared to the year-ago quarter, GDP fell 0.4%. The figure was inline with expectations and confirmed a preliminary estimate released in February. The data confirm that Italy has now experienced two consecutive quarters of shrinking GDP, the technical definition of an economy entering recession. The Italian FTSE MIB [xx:ftsemib] was down 0.4% at 16,415.90in early-afternoon trading.
