Reuters: Strong demand for Greek & Austrian bonds

Strong demand emerged today for bond issues from Austria and Greece, which followed larger Eurozone countries that issued bonds earlier in January.

Austria received orders from investors amounting to 40 billion euros and Greece 25 billion euros for their new 10-year bonds.

Slovenia has also entered the market for the sale of a 60-year bond, according to Reuters. The issues from all three countries are consortium, which means that they have hired banks to sell the debt directly to investors, which allows them to issue larger amounts and target a larger investor base.

Italy, Spain and France did the same earlier this January, as they always do, for most of which there was a record-high demand, as investors bet that European interest rates will remain low for a long period of time.

The chief analyst for Rabobank interest rates in London said that today’s issues are an additional indication that demand for bonds in the Eurozone is exceeding supply thanks to bond purchases by the European Central Bank.