Portuguese Bonds Slump on Bets Government Will Request Bailout

Portuguese 10-year bonds had their biggest weekly slump in four while Greek and Irish debt of similar maturity also fell on speculation European leaders won’t prevent a worsening of the region’s sovereign debt crisis.

The yield on Portugal’s five and 10-year bonds reached euro-era records this week on bets the nation is nearing a request for financial aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The declines widened the premium, or spread, that investors demand to hold five-year Portuguese notes instead of benchmark German bunds, by 66 basis points in the week to 548 percentage points. Spanish 10-year bonds fell after the nation’s credit rating was cut by Moody’s Investors Service.