Bottom line: Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on Sunday he planned to resign once Parliament approves Italy's 2013 budget, raising political uncertainty over who will help pull the country out of the eurozone debt crisis. The announcement comes a few days after former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s People of Freedom withdrew parliamentary backing for Monti's technocrat government. Mr. Monti's decision to resign is likely to speed up the timetable for elections, paving the way for Italians to vote in February. Currently, the pro-European centre-left Democratic Party has a stronger position in opinion polls than the Berlusconi's anti- Monti front and a new anti-establishment party, which comes second in polls. After the announcement, the euro weakened against the dollar, to 1.2880 as of today morning vs. 1.2950 on Friday’s closing. The Monti's announcement might also weigh negatively on stock market sentiment during today's session.