MW:Italy sells bonds, yields jump to euro-era highs
By William L. Watts
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Italy saw borrowing costs rise sharply as it sold a total of 7.5 billion euros ($10 billion) of a new three-year benchmark and other government bonds Tuesday. The Treasury sold 3.5 billion euros of three-year bonds, producing a euro-era record-high yield for a three-year of 7.89%, Reuters reported, up from 4.93% in a sale of three-year paper in October. A sale of September 2020 bonds saw the yield set at 7.28%, reports said, while a sale of March 2022 bonds produced a yield of 7.56%. Italian bond yields had risen sharply in the secondary market ahead of the sale. The 10-year yield remains up 24 basis points at 7.31%. Yields rise as prices fall.
