ECB Set to Buy Fewer Bonds as Price Gains Ease Crunch

With the European Central Bank facing a shrinking universe of government bonds it can buy under its quantitative-easing program, rising prices may help reduce the amount of securities it needs to achieve its buying goal.

Price gains that have pushed yields from Austria to Spain to record lows since the ECB started buying securities on Monday will enable the central bank to get closer to its target of 60 billion euros ($64 billion) a month, while acquiring fewer bonds than would be implied by the face value.