Yield

Greece's benchmark 10-year bond yield staged a remarkable rise on Monday as it increased by 2.61 percent to 4.35 percentage points.

This was up 10 basis points from last Friday's 4.25 percentage points.

The Public Debt Management Agency announced on Friday it will auction 52-week treasury bills in book entry form, with maturity on December 13, 2019.

The amount to be auctioned is 625 million euros.

The settlement date is next Friday.

Only primary dealers are allowed to participate, according to their operation regulations, the PDMA stated.

Greek state bonds benefited from a more positive mood in Italy on Thursday, with the country's 10-year bond yield hitting a four-week low of 4.26 percent, down 7 basis points on the day.

[Reuters]

According to Bulgaria's Agriculture Ministry, sunflower seed had been harvested from 731.9 Th ha as of October 18, i.e. from 99.6% of its forecast area of 735 Th ha. The crop amounted to 1880.85 KMT with a yield of 2.57 MT/ha. The harvest is 9.1% behind last year, though with a 12.7% higher yield than in 2017, reports UkrAgroConsult.

Sunseed prices in the Bulgarian market traditionally lowered ahead of the start of the new season, reaching BGN 563/MT (USD 335/MT). The start of sunseed harvesting and the first optimistic yield figures became the main bearish factor, reports UkrAgroConsult.

The deterioration of the investment climate in emerging markets, along with the still fragile picture in Greece, despite its exit from the bailout program, and talk of government handouts ahead of the Thessaloniki International Fair are driving investors away from Greek securities, with bond yields climbing to three-month highs on Wednesday.

 In the Bulgarian oilseed market, the price indicators in the national currency remained at last week's level. However, a decline happened because of a weakening Bulgarian lev. The sunseed market looks more flat at the end of the season. Sunseed price closed the week unchanged at BGN 609/MT that is equivalent to USD 353/MT.

The game is not over yet for Greece, only the first half, according to economists who shared their conclusions about last week's Eurogroup decisions with Kathimerini.

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 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.