In the first minutes of the opening on June 19, the spread between Italian BTPs and German Bunds remained stable at 72 basis points, while the other European spreads are experiencing some shocks. Yields increased again, mainly due to uncertainties over the Middle East peace negotiations.
Today also concludes the issuance of Btp Italia Sì, the securities indexed to inflation and reserved for private investors. In the first four days the Treasury raised over 8 billion euros, a slightly better result than the last issues of similar products.
Btp-Bund spread at 72 points, stable despite doubts about the Middle East
The last opening of the week saw rising yields and a stable spread for Italian BTPs. The spread with Bunds remained unchanged at 72 basis points, as in the first minutes of yesterday, while coupons increased by another two tenths of a point, as did those of German bonds.
This is not an obvious result, because in Europe, on the contrary, the bond market has shown a certain instability. The reason is the increase in tension in the Middle East. In fact, after the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the USA and Iran, Vice President Vance cancelled, for unclear reasons, the meeting with the Iranian counterpart scheduled in Geneva, Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued its attacks in southern Lebanon against Israeli troops, killing four soldiers. All elements that destabilized the situation that had led to the decline in spreads and yields during this week.
Unstable Europe, growing spread
In fact, there was a sudden increase in the spread between Spanish Bonos and German Bunds, which reached 47 basis points at the opening. Yields reached 3.43%, much higher than in recent days and on levels prior to those of this week.
| Government bonds | Returns | Spreads |
|---|---|---|
| German Bunds | 2.95% | – |
| Italian BTPs | 3.62% | 72 |
| French Oats | 3.60% | 65 |
| Spanish bonos | 3.43% | 47 |
At the same time, French Oats also recorded a small increase, with yields above 3.60% and a spread of 65 basis points.
Last day of BTP Italia Yes, auctions starting next week
The issuance of the BTP Italia Sì will end at 1pm today, the inflation-indexed government bonds that have raised over 8 billion euros so far. Yesterday, 40 thousand contracts were exceeded, with more than 1 billion raised for the Treasury.
Regular auctions of government bonds will also restart from next week. The dates to note are:
- Wednesday 24 June, the auction of Short Term BTPs and BTP€i;
- Thursday 25 June, the Bots auction;
- Friday 26 June, the medium-long term auction.
