Bond spread with Germany closes at 256
(ANSA) – Milan, October 9 – Italy and Spain, each buoyed by successful bond auctions, showed surprising strength Wednesday while most other European financial markets lost ground.
Milan’s key FTSE Mib rose by 0.97% to close at 18,551.
Investors remained concerned as the government shutdown in the United States continued, raising fears that the issue will hurt upcoming talks on raising the debt ceiling in the world’s biggest economy.
However, Italy’s bonds did well as five billion euros of seven-year notes were sold through banks, with further auctions planned for this week.
As a result, little change was seen in the spread between Italy’s benchmark 10-year bond and its ultra-safe German counterpart.
The spread closed at 256 basis points, up slightly from Tuesday’s 253 basis points, with the yield on Italy’s 10-year paper climbing by three basis points from Tuesday to close at 4.38%.
The spread between lending rates in the two countries is an important indicator of investor faith in the Italian economy, and the government’s ability to work cooperatively to cope with a lingering recession.
Other European markets were weak, with the significant exception of Spain where the IBEX 35 jumped by 1.29% to close at 9,439.90 points while Frankfurt’s DAX fell by 0.46%, closing at 8,516.69 points.
In Paris, the CAC 40 slid by 0.16%, ending trading at 4,127.05 points, while in London, the FTSE index of leading British shares lost 0.44% on the day, closing at 6,337.91.