Weekly Eurozone Watch – Markets “Revert Back”

Key Data Points
German 10-year Bund 12 bps higher;
France 10 bps tighter to the Bund;
Belgium 11 bps tighter;
Ireland 19 bps tighter;
Italy 31 bps tighter;
Spain 46 bps tighter;
Portugal 56 bps tighter;
Greece 61 bps tighter;
Large Eurozone banks weekly change, 3.0 to 7.7 percent;
Euro$ flat, -0.02 percent.

Comments
– Periphery bond markets rebounded after the Italian election scare;
– Fitch cut Italy’s sovereign rating to BBB+ citing “the inconclusive results of the Italian parliamentary elections.
– The ECB decided to keep interest rates unchanged.

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…markets – after some excitement immediately after the elections – have now reverted back more or less to how they were before. I think markets understand that we live in democracies… You also have to consider that much of the fiscal adjustment Italy went through will continue on automatic pilot. And also, if you consider this year, the net supply of government bonds is considerably less than last year – if I’m not mistaken it’s about €30 billion. So it’s very much a matter of rolling it over. All this is happening in a general environment where we have many signs that confidence is returning to the financial markets of the euro area.
– Mario Draghi, ECB President

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