Italy Borrowing Costs Fall at Debt Sale After Downgrade

Italian borrowing costs fell at an auction hours after Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the country’s bond rating by two levels, citing the worsening political and economic outlook.

Italy sold 3.5 billion euros ($4.3 billion) of three-year bonds, matching a maximum target, and later sold 1.75 billion euros of three longer-dated securities. The Rome-based Treasury sold the 2015 bond at 4.65 percent, down from the 5.3 percent on a similar-maturity bond sold on June 14. Investors bid for 1.73 times the amount offered, up from 1.59 times last month.