Investors Sovereign Wealth Funds
November 19, 2011
Euro Zone Bond Crisis Grows as Spain’s Problems Deepen
The problems with Spanish sovereign bonds continue to grow, putting greater stress on the entire euro zone, which is already facing the possibility of having to bail out Italy’s E1.9 trillion bond market.
By David Turner
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On Thursday, Spain became the latest European country to edge toward crisis when the yield on its benchmark ten-year bond jumped to a euro-era high following a troubled government auction of debt.
In Thursday trading, yields on Spain’s ten-year bond continued their rapid rise toward the 7 percent mark, which is seen by many investors as the point of no return for government debt. After jumping 30 basis points to reach 6.73 percent, yields looked set to go higher still before the European Central Bank intervened by buying up debt to prevent further damage to prices.
Société Générale summed up the market mood when it said in a Thursday note that “the slow-motion train crash continues” in the euro zone as “contagion spreads more deeply into Spain.”
In earlier stages of the euro zone crisis, yields in Ireland and Greece accelerated rapidly after passing the 7 percent milestone, prompting immediate bailouts. ....