Spanish treasury places 5bn euros on market

The Spanish treasury placed on Thursday treasury bonds valued at 5 billion euros (6.8 billion U.S. dollars) at lower 10-year bond rates although seeing rises on five and 30-year bonds yields. A total of 2.2 billion euros of treasury bonds with five-year lifespans carried an average interest rate of 2.26 percent, slightly above the 2.25 percent of the previous issue held on Feb. 6. A further 1.9 billion euros worth of treasury bonds with 10-year lifespans fetched an average interest rate of 3.56 percent, which was below the 3.85 percent of the previous issue held on Jan. 22. 10-year bond interest rates fell to 2006 levels according to local media, before the housing bubble burst in Spain. The remaining 798 million euros worth of treasury bonds with 30-year lifespans carried an average interest rate of 4.52 percent, slightly above the 4.2 percent of the previous auction. The Spanish treasury will hold another auction of three and six-month treasury bills on Feb. 25, after exceeding expectations this week by placing more than 4.5 billion euros on Tuesday and more than 5 billion euros on Thursday. After the auction, Spain's risk premium rose by five points to 195 since closing time on Wednesday, Spain's 10-year bond interest rates stood at 3.6 percent and the IBEX-35 stock market in Madrid stood at around 9,920 points at midday. Ratings agency Moody's will review Spain's Baa3 rating on Friday with some analysts predicting the agency might change its outlook from stable to positive.