Friday, May 3, 2013

A Turn for the Better in Greece?

Green Shoots in Greece?

Wall Street Journal - ‎57 minutes ago‎
Greece's headline numbers make for grim reading: six years of recession and unemployment of 27%. But beyond the headlines, conditions may finally be taking a turn for the better.
Greek 10-Year Yield Falls Below 10% as Crisis Concern Subsides
ECB intrerest rate cut doesn't change euro's long-term challenges

Greek 10-Year Yield Falls Below 10% as Crisis Concern Subsides

Greek bonds rose for a fifth-straight day, pushing 10-year borrowing costs to less than 10 percent, signaling an easing of financial-market tension in the country that triggered the euro-region’s sovereign debt crisis.
Yields on Greece’s benchmark 10-year bonds were headed for a close below 10 percent for the first time since October 2010. The securities have rallied, along with the debt of Spain, Italy and Ireland, since European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged in July to do “whatever it takes” to defend the euro. Adding to the gains are stimulus programs from central banks that may fuel demand for Europe’s higher yielding debt.
“Greek bonds have been major beneficiaries of the scramble for yield and the move towards global easing in the U.S., Japan and now finally in Europe,” Bill Blain, a strategist at Mint Partners Ltd. in London, said yesterday. “Europe has come far indeed, and Greece has been dragged higher in its wake.”
Greece’s 10-year bond yield fell 34 basis points, or 0.34 percentage point, to 9.94 percent at 1:45 p.m. London time. The price of the 2 percent security due in February 2023 rose to 57.565 percent of face value.
The last time similar-maturity Greek bonds closed with yields below 10 percent was on Oct. 26, 2010.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Goodman in London at dgoodman28@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net
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Greek 10-Year Yield Falls Below 10% as Crisis Concern Subsides 

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