Il Italian debt downgrade by Moody's has not even touched the market for our bonds. The fears about a possible surge in the spread proved to be unfounded, to the point that on several occasions the value even dropped compared to yesterday.
Some say that behind this surprising ability to take the hit shown by our government bonds there are new, massive interventions by the ECB on secondary markets. But these are unconfirmed rumors.
At the start, the yield differential between ten-year BTPs and the equivalent German Bunds was 374 basis points. And an hour after closing, we are still traveling at the same altitude. Indeed, even one point lower (373 bp). Ten-year yields, on the other hand, fell from 5,50 to 5,47%.
No significant changes then, but this should not suggest that the day was completely devoid of emotions. On the stock markets as on the bond markets, volatility is still very high, to the point that in the morning the spread fluctuated without ever stabilizing between a daily minimum of 371 and a maximum of 383 points.
In short, still a long way from those dramatic days of early August. Then, just before the ECB intervened to buy our bonds on the secondary market, our spread had reached an all-time high since the introduction of the euro at 416.
