Trading in the floundering information technology group's shares was halted in mid-morning after they plunged to 465 lire from a close of 516.5 lire on Monday, hitting a 10 per cent limit on price movements. Two later efforts to resume trading failed.
Meanwhile, three other people are under investigation alongside Olivetti chief executive Francesco Caio in a probe by Italian magistrates of the crisis-hit company's balance sheets, judicial sources said yesterday.
The sources did not name the other three but said the preliminary inquiries were all linked to the group's 1996 first half results which were published two weeks ago.