Corporate bonds follow sovereign

The deterioration of Greece's country risk, recently reflected in the increase in sovereign bond yields after the issue of the seven-year bond on February 9, has also had a negative impact on Greek corporate bonds on the platform of the Athens Exchange.

The narrowing in the spread between sovereign and corporate bonds of the same maturity highlights how fragile investor confidence can be even in enterprises that have managed to meet the challenges of the eight-year crisis as the lion's share of their activity depends on the sale of their subsidiaries abroad.

Pressure on the local sovereign bond market eased only temporarily after upgrades to the sovereign rating by Fitch on February 16 and Moody's on Wednesday. After Thursday's slide in the 7-year bond yield it rose to 4 percent on Friday, against 3.50 percent two weeks ago, while the 5-year note added two basis points...