Bond trade volume sees rise in July
The volume of Greek government debt traded on the central bank’s electronic system (HDAT) rose to 29.2 billion euros ($43.3 billion) in July from 26.7 billion in June, the Bank of Greece said yesterday. Daily average turnover in July eased to 1.27 billion euros from 1.33 billion in the previous month. Greek government bond yields fell markedly in July, particularly on the short end of the yield curve, in line with the performance seen in the rest of the eurozone. In Greece, the most actively traded bond was the 10-year benchmark, which recorded 16.6 billion euros’ worth of transactions, followed by the five-year benchmark with 3.4 billion. Investor interest focused on government paper with remaining maturities of between 7 and 15 years, which absorbed 57 percent of overall volume. The 10-year benchmark bond yield fell 26 basis points to 5.07 percent, with 30-year government paper yields declining by 23 basis points to 5.33 percent. As a result, Greece’s yield curve steepened while also shifting downward. (Reuters)
