Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Greek Two-Year Government Notes Rise After Papandreou Wins Confidence Vote

Bloomberg
June 22, 2011

Greece’s two-year notes rose after Prime Minister George Papandreou won a confidence vote, paving the way for the country to implement austerity measures needed to receive further aid.

The gains drove the securities higher for a fourth consecutive day, the longest run of price increases since June 6. A total of 155 Greek lawmakers supported the motion in the 300-seat parliament in Athens early this morning, with 143 voting against, the speaker, Filippos Petsalnikos, said. Irish securities fell and Portuguese two- and 10-year yields rose to records. German bunds advanced after the nation sold 3.4 billion euros ($4.9 billion) of 10-year bonds at an average yield of 2.96 percent.

“Greek bonds are higher as parliament duly passed the vote last night,” said Huw Worthington, a fixed-income strategist at Barclays Capital in London. “Attention will turn to next week’s vote on the austerity package. It looks like that will be passed. Then, they’ll get the money in July and we may see a bit of a relief rally.”

Greek two-year note yields, which surpassed 30 percent for the first time last week, fell 32 basis points to 27.32 percent as of 11:37 a.m. in London. The 4.6 percent security due May 2013 rose 0.425, or 4.25 euros per 1,000-euro face amount, to 69.39. The 10-year bond yield was eight basis points lower at 16.89 percent. It rose to a euro-era record 18.35 percent on June 17.

More

No comments: