Referendum results

Is Italy's referendum result the first step toward leaving the EU?

Whatever shorthand word the media settle on -- "Itexit," "Quitaly" or "Italexit" -- the stage is slowly being set for a battle over Italy's place in the EU. Far-right parties will want to capitalize on the momentum of the referendum victory and call for Italy's exit from the eurozone repeatedly in the coming months.

And while the loss of Renzi's reforms proposal hands Italy's EU skeptics a stronger mandate, it's not yet enough, Piccoli said.

"This was a vote against Renzi so it shouldn't be read as a vote against the euro, against the establishment," he said. "It is clear that the alarm bells have gone off in Italy now. ... There is going to be a certain sense of alarmism, but this is not a vote that will necessarily change the projection of Italy in the short term."

Referendum results

Italy's Renzi announces resignation after referendum rout

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said he would resign after suffering a crushing defeat on Sunday in a referendum on constitutional reform, tipping the euro zone's third-largest economy into political turmoil.

His decision to quit after just two and a half years in office deals a blow to the European Union, already reeling from multiple crises and struggling to overcome anti-establishment forces that have battered the Western world this year.

The euro fell to 20-month lows against the dollar, with markets worried that instability in heavily indebted Italy could reignite a dormant financial crisis and deal a hammer blow to the country's fragile banking sector.