Bond trade volume rises to 64.3 bln euros
The volume of Greek government debt traded on the central bank’s electronic system (HDAT) rose to -64.31 billion in January from -45.01 billion in December, the Bank of Greece said yesterday. Daily average turnover was -2.92 billion, up from 2.37 billion the previous month. The central bank said investor interest mainly focused on the long end of the yield curve. Paper with remaining maturities of between seven and 10 years absorbed 67 percent of overall volume. The most actively traded bond was the 10-year benchmark maturing July 20, 2016, which recorded -18.1 billion worth of transactions. Greek government bonds recorded losses in January on all maturities and particularly at the long end of the yield curve, in line with the rest of the eurozone. As a result, the yield curve steepened slightly while shifting upward. The steepness of the yield curve, measured as the yield difference between 30- and three-year bonds, increased to 52 from 48 basis points at the end of December. The average monthly yield spread between Greek and German 10-year benchmark bonds was steady at 26 basis points for the third month in a row. (Reuters)
