Germany’s government bonds fell for a fourth day before euro-area officials meet in Brussels today as they seek to finalize releasing the next disbursement of aid to Greece. Italian bonds rose before the nation sells as much as 3.5 billion euros ($4.58 billion) of notes due in 2015 as well as bonds maturing in 2026. Spain will auction debt due between 2015 and 2040. European Union finance ministers meeting yesterday agreed to put the European Central Bank in charge of all euro- area lenders in a deal that paves the way for the currency bloc’s firewall fund to provide direct bailouts to banks. The German 10-year yield rose two basis points, or 0.02 percentage point, to 1.35 percent at 7:53 a.m. London time. The 1.5 percent bond maturing in September 2022 dropped 0.15, or 1.50 euros per 1,000-euro face amount, to 101.34. Greece this month concluded a deal to purchase some its government bonds from private investors including its own banks to free up the next aid tranche. Investors tendered Greek bonds with a face value of 31.9 billion euros, the Public Debt Management Agency said on its website yesterday. International bailout funds to Greece have been frozen since June. Italy’s 10-year yield fell five basis points to 4.59 percent, and similar-maturity Spanish yields dropped five basis points to 5.32 percent. Italy last sold three-year notes on Nov. 14 at an average yield of 2.64 percent, the lowest rate since October 2010. German bonds returned 4.1 percent this year through yesterday, according to indexes compiled by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies. Italy’s securities gained 19 percent, while Spain’s rose 5.3 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Neal Armstrong in London at narmstrong8@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net

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