Spanish Sovereign

Greek yields fell on Thursday after the first round of a presidential vote in the country’s parliament, but SSA bankers warned that it was far from a sign that investors are expecting a win for the ruling coalition. The government’s candidate failed to win enough votes, meaning the opposition party Syriza — which wants to write off much of the country’s debt and rollback austerity measures — could win power in the New Year.

Spain shunted its 10 year borrowing costs down to a record low on Thursday as it overshot its maximum €2.5bn at an auction of medium to long term debt. The result mirrored the wider eurozone periphery, as sovereigns enjoyed falling yields in secondary trading.

Greek yields were calm on Wednesday after nearly two weeks of violent jumps, but the sovereign still suffered a rise in its short term borrowing costs at an auction. There was better news for Spain, whose 10 year yields fell slightly ahead of a bond auction on Thursday.

Spain is open to taps of its longest outstanding bond, a 50 year private placement, and demand could be strong as investors look at ever longer maturities in a hunt for yield. But a minimum deal size could limit the investor base able to buy the sovereign’s paper, said bankers.

Although the eurozone sovereign debt market shrugged off a collapse in Greek bonds this week after the country brought presidential elections forward, other periphery countries could still see sell-offs around their own votes next year, bankers warned this week.

Greece’s yields went spiralling into orbit on Tuesday ahead of an auction of the country’s short term debt on Wednesday, with the yield on its five year comeback syndication from earlier this year reaching its highest level yet.

BBVA raised €2bn of fresh equity on Wednesday evening, to finance its acquisition of a 14.89% stake in Turkey’s Garanti Bank — taking its stake in the bank to 39.9%. The €2bn will pay for the whole stake.

Italian power utility firm Enel has decided to raise the number of shares it is selling in Endesa after finding strong demand from investors.

Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas's shareholders approved a €1bn capital increase at an extraordinary shareholders meeting on Thursday in Barcelona, allowing the Spanish building and environmental services company to begin restructuring a €4.5bn loan.

After a lengthy absence from sterling, Instituto de Crédito Oficial is keen to reestablish itself as a permanent name in the currency. The Spanish agency sold its first new issue in the sterling bond market in five years this week, while Finland came soon after with a five year.

Italian power utility firm Enel will sell about 50% more Endesa shares to Spanish retail investors than it had originally planned, after strong demand for that tranche led to a 1.7 times oversubscription of the book.

Italian power utility firm Enel has decided to raise the number of shares it is selling in Endesa, after finding strong demand from investors.