Rajoy Rewarded as Spanish Shed Discount to Italians

Investors are backing Spanish politicians for the kind of austerity measures their counterparts in Italy are finding elusive.

Spain has paid three basis points less than Italy over the past two months to borrow for 10 years compared with the average 41 basis-point premium it was charged in the first eight months of 2013, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The Spanish yield fell below 4 percent at the end of October for the first time in almost six months and rose by one basis point today to 4.08 percent, compared with 4.09 percent for Italian securities.