Econintersect: Portugal’s Treasury and Government Debt Agency bond auction today (Wednesday, March 9) did not go well. The entire €1 billion issuance of a 2.5-year government bond was sold, but rates were much higher than the previous auction. Today the average yield was just under 6% (5.993% according to The Wall Street Journal). This was much higher than the 4.086% average yield in the previous auction, The WSJ article said. The auction was for the 5.45% September 2013 bond.The yield was also higher than the 3-year bond got in a January 12 auction (average 5.4%). In January it was widely felt that a Porugal bail-out by the ECB, if needed, was becoming more likely. The political opposition to such action has been growing recently, especially in Germany.
Source: The Wall Street Journal and 123jump.com