Peripheral progress spurs Portuguese mandate

SSA issuance has been curbed by the Chinese New Year holidays this week, but increased speculation that the European Financial Stability Facility will be allowed to buy government bonds has boosted peripheral sovereigns has raised expectations of an imminent Portuguese syndication. Much depends on the Portugal auction of six and 12 month T-bills on Wednesday morning, but analysts expect a good response and bankers anticipate an announcement from the ICGP shortly after the EU meeting on Friday. A further sign of confidence in peripheral credits was a Eu2.5bn three year from Spain’s Ico priced on Tuesday. It is the agency’s biggest ever benchmark, with 80% sold to international investors. Read EuroWeek on Friday to see what further progress the periphery makes, and for full coverage of the week’s SSA trades.