Greek, Spanish, Portuguese Bonds Drop as Debt Sales Test Investor Appetite
By Paul Dobson and Garth Theunissen - Mar 8, 2011 11:33 AM GMT+0100
Tue Mar 08 10:33:37 GMT 2011
Greek and Spanish bonds declined as the nations held debt sales that will gauge investor appetite for the securities of
Europe’s most indebted nations.
Portuguese 10-year bonds fell for a second day as the nation prepares to sell notes tomorrow. Greek debt slid for a ninth day after a cut yesterday in the nation’s credit rating spurred bets Europe’s debt crisis may worsen. German 10-year bonds weakened before a report forecast to show factory orders in Europe’s biggest economy grew for a 15th straight month.
“The biggest driver of peripheral bonds this week is undoubtedly the peripheral supply that’s coming to the market,” said
Peter Chatwell, a strategist at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in London. “Every time that more supply comes to market, the market cheapens up a bit.”
The yield on 10-year Greek bonds jumped 36 basis points to 12.69 percent as of 10:28 a.m. in
London. The 6.25 percent securities maturing in June 2020 fell 1.44, or 14.4 euros per 1,000-euro ($1,393) face amount, to 65.88. The extra yield investors demand to hold the securities instead of German bunds rose 37 basis points, or 0.37 percentage point, to 943 basis points, the most since Jan. 11.
Spanish 10-year yields climbed six basis points to 5.45 percent, while equivalent-maturity Portuguese yields were two basis points higher at 7.57 percent. The yield on the German bund, the euro region’s benchmark government security, was one basis point higher at 3.28 percent. The two-year yield was little changed at 1.75 percent.
Greek Sale
Greece sold 1.625 billion euros of 182-day bills at an average yield of 4.75 percent, up from 4.64 percent at a previous sale of the debt last month, the nation’s debt management office said today. Investors bid for 3.59 times the securities offered, down from 4.54 times at the earlier sale. The debt office said it aimed to sell as much as 1.25 billion euros of the bills.
Spain hired banks to sell 15-year bonds, according to a banker involved in the deal.
Portugal plans to issue up to 1 billion euros of 2013 notes tomorrow.
“
In the context of the Greek downgrade yesterday, the market seems to be putting the debt crisis back on the agenda,” said Marius Daheim, a senior fixed-income strategist at Bayerische Landesbank in Munich. The potential for “strong” factory orders “might justify why we are seeing rates pushing up again” in Germany, he said.
German factory orders, adjusted for seasonal variations and inflation, rose 15.6 percent in January from a year earlier, after increasing 19.7 percent the previous month, according to the median estimate of 16 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
(Bloomberg)
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