ECB bond purchases almost halved

The ECB purchases of sovereign bonds almost halved last week from €14.3 billion to €6.7 billion, read the Reuters report, from here.

Tomorrow Italy will auction some 10 year bonds direct to the market, where there are no grey areas, and  direct purchases are strictly not allowed, even by the now maverick ECB. Yields and take-up will presumably be watched with interest although the quantity available is not thought by some market players to be significant.

Two bad banks merged in Greece today, naturally enough the mad markets greeted this as good news! Those whom the gods first wish to destroy....