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Euro zone bond yields hit multi-month highs, spreads widen
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Euro zone bond yields hit multi-month highs, spreads widen
Jan 13, 2025 8:40 AM

(Adds data and background on yield spreads)

By Harry Robertson and Stefano Rebaudo

LONDON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Euro zone bond yields rose

again on Monday to new multi-month highs as strong U.S. jobs

data from Friday, a rise in oil prices, and another busy week of

government debt issuance continued to put pressure on global

fixed-income markets.

Germany's 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for

the euro zone bloc, rose to 2.612%, the highest since July. It

was last up 2 basis points (bps) at 2.592%.

Meanwhile, the risk premium for Italian government bonds

widened sharply while the one on the French debt approached its

highest levels in over 12 years as investors' focus gradually

shifted to fiscal risks.

The yield gap between French and German 10-year yields

- measure of the risk premium investors demand to

hold French debt - reached 88.1 bps, its highest since Nov. 27.

It rose to 90 bps at the end of November after a deeply

divided lower house rejected the budget plan for 2025.

Political instability raised fears that France could struggle to

curb a burgeoning public deficit.

The spread between Italian and German yields

rose to 125.2 bps and was last up 5 bps at 122.50 bps. Italian

public debt is among the highest in the euro area, even if its

outlook has not raised concerns among investors so far.

The Greek yield spread widened 8 bps; while

Spain's and Portugal's rose 2-3 bps.

Figures on Friday showed the U.S. economy added 256,000 jobs

in December, the most since March and well above economists'

expectations of 160,000.

Traders on Monday were no longer certain the Federal Reserve

will cut rates this year, pricing just 24 bps of rate cuts for

2025, down from 43 bps before the employment data.

"Bond markets struggle to stabilise with the rally in oil,

upbeat U.S. payrolls and the supply wave taking its toll, and a

change of dynamics seems unlikely this week," said Hauke

Siemssen, rates strategist at Commerzbank.

Oil prices have risen roughly 5% over the last two sessions,

driven by new U.S. sanctions on Russia's energy exports.

Siemssen said Commerzbank expects governments to issue about

22 billion euros ($22 billion) of debt this week, with a

possibility of more coming from syndications. Last week they

sold 62 billion euros, Commerzbank said.

Italy sold three and seven-year bonds at their highest

yields since July at an auction on Monday, while Germany moved

some short-term debt.

Germany's two-year yield, more sensitive to

European Central Bank rate expectations, rose to 2.322%, its

highest since November and was up one bp at 2.29%.

Investors wait for U.S. inflation data on Wednesday, while

keeping an eye on British markets, which have been particularly

hard hit in the global bond sell-off.

($1 = 0.9804 euros)

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