Italy's Economy Ministry said
Thursday it was closing a bond sale early after exceeding its
goal for a 20 billion euro offering.
Institutional investors snapped up 10.49 billion euros
worth of Italian bonds, following a 10-billion-euro sale of the
new six-year April 2020 bonds to retail investors earlier in the
week.
The inflation-linked bond offers a guaranteed minimum
coupon of 1.65%.
The popularity of Italian paper has pushed down yields to
lows not seen since the euro was introduced in 1999, with
10-year BTPs trading as low as 3.08% Thursday morning.
Analysts say that demand has been steadily rising for
Italian paper, particularly since European Central Bank
President Mario Draghi pledged in mid-2012 to take whatever
action was needed to protect the common currency.
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