Spain sold €9.98bn of bonds maturing in 2015 and 2016, including a new three-year benchmark security, twice the maximum target of €5bn euros set for the sale, Bloomberg reports. The Bank of Spain said demand for the new three-year benchmark bond was 1.8 times the amount sold, versus 2.7 previously. The yield on the new benchmark, which matures in July 2015, was 3.384 per cent, compared with 5.187 per cent when Spain sold notes maturing in April 2015 at an auction in December, said Bloomberg. Italy was also in the market, selling €8.5bn in 1-year treasury bills and €3.5bn in 136-day bills, according to the FT. The ECB is set to announce its decision on interest rates at 12.45 GMT and is widely expected to keep its main refinancing rate on hold at 1 per cent, although a few have forecast a quarter-point cut.

This entry was posted by Izabella Kaminska on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 10:29 and is featured in The Lunch Wrap (12 Jan 2012) . Tagged with Bank of Spain, bonds, Spain. Edit this entry.