Senior European Union officials are due to meet to discuss the eurozone's continuing debt woes.
The talks in Brussels were arranged by European Council president Herman Van Rompuy. His spokesman denied that it was a crisis meeting.
Reports say the meeting was organised because of worries that Italy could be drawn into the debt crisis.
It will be followed by a planned meeting of eurozone finance ministers.
The finance ministers are due to discuss a second financial support package for Greece.
Greece's current bail-out funds, agreed last year, total 110bn euros ($157bn; £98bn), but the government requires more funds to prevent it defaulting on its debt payments in the future.
Widening gap
Mr Rompuy's spokesman said the talks with fellow European Union officials were arranged to "co-ordinate positions as we have done in the past".
Also due to attend are the head of eurozone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU Economics Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn.
On Friday, shares in Italy's largest bank, c, fell 7.9%, and the main Italian share index dropped 3.5% on fears over Italy's financial situation.
The yield on Italian bonds also rose, as investors became less willing to purchase them.
The spread of Italy's 10-year government bond yield over the German equivalent hit 2.45% on Friday, its highest since the euro was introduced.
As a result, the yield on Italian bonds reached 5.28%, which analysts say is close to levels that could put pressure on Italy's public finances.
The main Italian share index had fallen even further on Monday, down 2.3% in afternoon trading. Shares in Unicredit Spa were 0.2% lower.
Germany said on Monday that it had confidence in the Italian public finances.
A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said her government had "full confidence in the Italian government taking the necessary clear decisions for an austerity budget".
He added: "Speculation suggesting otherwise is completely misplaced."
