Rare Save… A Positive Bond Auction In Italy (EWI)

A bond auction in Italy may actually be some good news for the markets on this Friday the 13th.  Italy’s bond auction came off with yields under 5% for this year’s first real bond auction.  Now the hope is going to be that the crucial 7% level is a thing of the past.  Maybe this is market “hopium” but the markets react to each new offering still.  Friday’s sale was roughly a three-year (November of 2014) and the yield to investors was 4.83%.  That comes to almost 80 basis points cheaper than the last auction of 2011 and appears to be the lowest yield since September before the Euro debt crisis went into overdrive.

We have yet to see trading in the iShares MSCI Italy Index Fund (NYSE: EWI) as the key ETF around Italy in early bird trading in New York, but stocks in Milan appear to be up 0.7% with about three hours before the NYSE opens for trading.