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Italy faces a political gridlock after voters delivered a hung parliament in Sunday's election, as anti-establishment and far-right groups surged to record numbers.
With half the ballot counted, it looked almost certain that none of Italy's three main factions would be able to rule alone and there was little prospect of a return to traditional government, giving the European Union a new predicament to deal with.
Scenarios currently include the creation of a more euro-skeptic coalition, which would likely challenge EU budget restrictions and be little interested in further European integration, or swift new elections to try to break the deadlock.
A rightist alliance including former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (Go Italy!) emerged with the largest bloc of votes, ahead of the anti-system 5-Star Movement, which saw its support surge to become Italy's biggest single party.
The ruling centre-left coalition came a distant third, hit by widespread anger over persistent poverty, high unemployment and an influx of more than 600,000 migrants over the past four years.
The biggest winner was the 5-Star Movement, which was predicted to have won a third of all votes cast, up from 25 percent last time around, putting it in the driving seat in any future coalition talks. The ruling centre-left bloc was seen on around 22 percent.
The full result is not due until later today.
A prolonged political stalemate could Italy the focus of market concern in Europe, now that the threat of German instability has receded after the revival on Sunday of a grand coalition under Chancellor Angela Merkel.
