MILAN (AP) — The Latest on the drawn-out negotiations to form Italy's next government (all times local):

7:15 p.m.

Italy's populist leaders are getting a second shot at putting together a government.

The leader of the 5-Star Movement, Luigi Di Maio, and League leader Matteo Salvini said in a statement Thursday that they have achieved "the conditions for a political government."

The political landscape in Italy has shifted swiftly in the last two days. President Sergio Mattarella put on hold a possible interim government of technocrats Wednesday after getting signals that the two populist parties were willing to compromise on the composition of their Cabinet.

Salvini and Di Maio's initial attempt to form western Europe's first populist government foundered early in the week when Mattarella refused their choice of an anti-euro economy minister.

As a next step, Mattarella has called the IMF official he named as premier-designate of a technical government to a Thursday night meeting. Carlo Cottarelli was expected to formally step aside.

4:05 p.m.

The leaders of two populist parties in Italy are meeting in Rome amid revived prospects for a political government after their first attempt failed on their choice of a euroskeptic economy minister.

A day after the possibility of a governing coalition between the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the right-wing League was revived, League leader Matteo Salvini canceled appointments in northern Italy to travel to Rome.

Salvini declined to respond to reporters' questions when he arrived at the Rome airport. News agency ANSA said he went straight to the lower house of parliament, where he met with 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio.

The possibility that the 5-Star government and the League could come up with a government acceptable to Italy's president buoyed financial markets, despite their euroskeptic views.

10:05 a.m.

Financial markets have calmed amid signs that Italy may avoid imminent elections after President Sergio Mattarella gave two populist parties time to figure out whether they can agree on an alternative to a euroskeptic economy minister.

The leader of the 5-Star Movement, Luigi Di Maio, has proposed moving the contested ministerial candidate to a different Cabinet post. League leader Matteo Salvini, meanwhile, said he isn't closing the doors on any solution.

But he's also showing some resistance to the change, saying "if someone in Berlin or Paris wakes up in a bad mood that doesn't mean that an Italian minister gets kicked out."

Mattarella gave the leaders time to form a coalition government after markets plunged on news of an interim administration that would take Italy to new elections.