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Italy 10-yr debt costs surge after vote

Wednesday, February 27 10:49:41

Italy's 10-year debt costs rose more than half a percentage point today at the first longer-term auction since an inconclusive parliamentary election, although they remained below the psychologically important level of 5 percent.

The treasury sold the top planned amount 4 billion euros of a new 10-year bond, with a yield of 4.83 percent, the highest since October 2012. At the end of January, Rome had paid 4.17 percent to sell 10-year paper.

The bid-to-cover was good at 1.65, signalling healthy demand for Italian long-term debt.

Rome also issued 2.5 billion euros of a five-year bond, paying 3.59 percent, up from 2.94 percent one month ago.

The vote cast by Italians the weekend gave none of the political parties a parliamentary majority, raising the risk of protracted instability and a rekindling of the euro zone's debt crisis. Reuters