Yield curve

Denmark has  longest history of a country with  negative central bank rates is offering homeowners 20-year loans at a fixed interest rate of zero.

The successful completion of the first 15-year bond sale since the financial crisis is a "vote of confidence" by international markets, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said on Tuesday, after Greece gathered record orders.

Greek bond yields have this year exceeded even the most optimistic forecasts, with the cost of borrowing for the Greek state declining by over 72 percent since the start of 2019.

According to CNBC, gold prices spiked during Asian trading hours on Thursday after a dovish U.S Federal Reserve opened the door to further rate cuts.

Spot gold was up 1.3% at $1,377.41 per ounce as of 0117 GMT, after hitting its highest since March 17, 2014 at $1,383.81.

U.S. gold futures surged 3% to $1,397.70 an ounce.

Greece is planning to issue a one-year treasury bill in the coming days, a finance ministry official told Reuters on Thursday, its first such issue in about eight years. 

"We are looking at issuing a 12-month T-bill in the next days," said the official, who declined to be named. "We would like to fill the yield curve with a one-year maturity." 

The process of swapping 20 bonds stemming from the Greek debt restructuring of 2012, or private sector involvement (PSI), began on Wednesday with the issue of new securities.

Greece is taking the necessary steps to facilitate liquidity for its future market forays, Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos said on Wednesday.

"We are doing the necessary spade work to ensure appropriate liquidity conditions for future exits to the market," Tsakalotos told Reuters, asked to comment on Greece's debt swap plans announced earlier on Wednesday.

Greek bonds extended losses on Wednesday, with yields on short-dated debt spiking sharply above longer-dated ones, as investors worried about the upcoming presidential elections that could catapult the leftist anti-bailout SYRIZA party to power.

Greek bonds saw their yields climb as the government announced it plans to improve its yield curve with sales of seven- and 10-year government debt, according to the 2015 draft budget presented on Monday by Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras.

Greek 10-year yields increased nine basis points to 6.44 percent and the 30-year rate climbed seven basis points to 7.06 percent.

Alastair Marsh & Katie Linsell

Mario Draghi’s words have lost none of their potency. Just look at the bond market where the European Central Bank president’s hints about further stimulus soothed investors unsettled by turmoil from Ukraine to Iraq.