The European Central Bank’s ability to prop up the region’s lower-rated debt may be diminishing: Italy’s 10-year bond yield climbed to the highest in two months on Monday, just days after officials said their stimulus policies are working.
Italian government bonds fell, with the 10-year yield premium over benchmark German securities reaching the largest in two weeks, even as the ECB buys 80 billion euros ($90 billion) a month of the euro region’s debt. For much of last year, the quantitative-easing program helped Italian bonds outperform their peers from the continent’s richer nations as investors sought out higher yields.
