LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - The cost of insuring
Israel's debt against default rose on Thursday, and its bond
prices slid, as regional security concerns spiked and the
country's own government wobbled.
Israel's five-year credit default swaps rose 7 basis points
(bps) from Wednesday's close, to reach 105 bps, according to S&P
Global Market Intelligence, while its international dollar bonds
slid more than 1 cent.
The 100-year issuance, which matures in 2120, shed more than
1.3 cents before retracing some of the loss to be bid at 67
cents on the dollar, Tradeweb data showed.
The United States restricted government employees' travel
outside certain Israeli cities, and pulled some personnel out of
the Middle East, due to escalating tensions with Iran.
Israel's parliament rejected early on Thursday a preliminary
vote to dissolve itself, giving the ruling coalition led by
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu more time resolve its worst
political crisis yet and avoid a ballot that polls suggest he
would lose.
Markets broadly moved into risk-off mode, with oil prices
spiking and fixed income instruments in other emerging markets
also coming under downward pressure.
Egypt's dollar bonds shed as much as 1.5 cents, with the
2040 maturity bid at 76.48 cents on the dollar.
"Clearly it is Iran that is at the centre of this and the
possibility that you see a strike from the U.S. or Israel," said
Paul McNamara, an investment director of emerging market debt
for investment firm GAM, with market moves signalling a shift
from no risk of a U.S. strike to a very low risk.
"There is a lot of scope for things to get a whole lot
worse if we do see a military strike and a sustained attack,"
McNamara said.