| Euroland optimism in long bond yields |
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In its September report, the European Central Bank comments that the average level of euro area bond yields has increased by around 125 basis points since May, bringing it close to 5.2% in early September.
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In its September report, the European Central Bank comments that the average level of euro area bond yields has increased by around 125 basis points since May, bringing it close to 5.2% in early September.
While short-term movements in euro area long-term bond yields seemed partly to be the result of spillovers from the US bond markets, the ECB says, ‘an important source of recent upward pressure on domestic bond yields seems to have been increasing optimism in the markets about the prospects for economic activity in the euro area’.
The spread between US long-term bond yields and comparable yields in the euro area had narrowed by more than 20 basis points since end-July, standing at below 90 basis points on 8 September.
The ECB adds that ‘When measured as the difference between 10-year government bond yields and three-month money market interest rates, the slope of the euro yield curve had increased to around 250 basis points by 8 September. This represents an increase in the slope of the yield curve of around 170 basis points since the end of 1998.’ |
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| Article appeared in the October 1999 issue.
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