The Italian bond market opens down. The Italian rating cut by Standard & Poor's last Friday weighed on BTP derivatives, down to around 134,19 in mid-morning. In fact, the rating agency lowered the rating on Italian credit by one notch, bringing it to "BBB-", close to the "junk" level, due to the risks on the sustainability of the public debt, also linked to the continuing difficulties of the GDP
Just last Friday, before Standard & Poor's ax hit Italy, the Italian 1,95-year rate, also driven by investors' bets on the imminent launch of a quantitative easing program, had reached an all-time low of 117% , thus narrowing the spread gap with the corresponding German Bund up to 2010 basis points, the lowest since July XNUMX.
A situation which, however, did not last long: after the cut by S&P's, in the morning the BTP rates started to grow again, going over the 2% level, while the spread stood at around 123 points in the mid-morning of a day which , amid the conflicting pressures of rating cuts and quantitative easing hopes, is shaping up to be volatile.
