Spanish, French Debt Auctions Disappoint; Yields Rise

By: CNBC.com with Reuters Twitter


The spread between French 10-year government bonds and their German equivalents rose to a fresh euro-era high of 200 basis points on Thursday on fears that the debt crisis engulfing the euro zone is spreading to its larger economies, with disappointing auctions of French and Spanish debt.

France offered 6 to 7 billion euros of Treasury notes (also called BTANs ) at an auction , with the 5-year French treasury bond's average yield reaching 2.82 percent on a 1.675 bid/cover ratio.

The Spanish/German 10-year yield spread rose 16 basis points on the day to 477 basis points, while the yield on its 10-year bond also hit the highest since the inception of the euro at 6.57 percent.

The French/German 10-year yield spread hit a euro-era high of 197 bps. Yields in a Spanish auction of 10-year bonds rose to an euro lifetime high of 6.975 percent and the country sold 3.56 billion euros ($4.8 billion) worth of debt. Credit default swaps on French and Spanish sovereign debt hit a record high on Thursday