Italy Sells Maximum Amount at 1-Year Bill Sale as Yield Surges
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Italy sold 5 billion euros ($6.8 billion) of one-year bills, the maximum for the auction, and demand rose as the Treasury lured investors with the highest yield in 14 years after debt-crisis contagion sent borrowing costs to records.
The Rome-based Treasury sold the bills to yield 6.087 percent, the highest since September 1997 and up from 3.57 percent at the last auction on Oct. 11. Demand was 1.99 times the amount on offer, compared with 1.88 times last month. The yield on Italy’s benchmark 10-year bond fell below 7 percent after the auction from a euro-era record 7.45 percent.