Sales on Italian government bonds do not stop. Even today, albeit after an attempt to rebound in the early hours of the session, the secondary market for government bonds shows to be under pressure. Witness the BTP / Bund spread which in the early afternoon is at 250 basis points (from 244 at yesterday’s closing). These are new highs since May 2020. Traders are awaiting the meeting tomorrow and the day after the Fed, the US central bank. The fear is that a more aggressive squeeze than initially expected could come from the next appointment, with an increase in the cost of money by up to 75 basis points.
Pending the Fed, Italy’s ten-year BTP rate rose to 4.17%. This is a new high since December 2013. Yesterday, at the close, it moved in the area of 4.10%.
At the same time, the main index of Piazza Affari, FtseMib, is down by 0.92%. Frankfurt lost just over 0.80% and Paris 1.18%. Meanwhile, today in Milan some banks, heavily penalized by sales in the last few sessions, are starting to recover: Intesa Sanpaolo gains 0.80%, Unicredit is on a point and a half.
Btp, doubles auction yield for 3 years
Meanwhile, in today’s medium / long-term auctions of government bonds in which the Treasury offered 3, 7 and 30-year BTPs and an off-the-run with a residual maturity of 27 years for a total amount of 4.5-6 billion euros, they did not disappoint. However, the final rates rose to the highs of several years, in some cases returning to 2012. This is the case of the fifth tranche of the August 2025 BTP which was assigned for 2 billion at a rate of 3.04%, the highest level. high since July 2012, from 1.53% of the previous placement.
The third tranche of the June 2029 BTP was assigned for € 2.5 billion at 3.75%, the highest since October 2013, compared to the 2.39% of the placement in mid-May.
The September 2052 stock, on its fourth reopening, was placed for 752 million with a rate of 4.23%, the highest level since April 2014, from 2.89% in mid-April.
Finally, the Treasury awarded 748 million in off-the-run September 2049, at the rate of 4.20%.