Spain sells €4.1bn of bonds at lower yields

The Spanish treasury on Tuesday successfully placed treasury bonds valued at 4.1 billion euros (5.5 billion U.S. dollars) at favorable interest rates. About 1.3 billion euros of bonds with a six-month lifespan carried an average interest rate of 0.83 percent, below the 0.95-percent registered at the previous on July 16. The remaining 2.8 billion euros worth of bonds with 12-month lifespans fetched an average interest rate of 1.2 percent, below the 1.5 percent of the previous auction. The Spanish treasury has already covered more than 63 percent of its financial needs for 2013 and will hold another auction on Aug. 27 of three- and nine-month bills. Meanwhile, the IBEX-35 stock market in Madrid saw the risk premium fall below the 250-point mark since July 2011 last week. On Tuesday, it picked up to 257 points in early trading while Spain's interest rate on 10-year bond reached 4.43 percent.