These were the yields and basis point movements of some of the most watched 10-year bonds by the close in Europe:

US 1.63% (-4bp)
Spain: 5.68% (-8bp)
Italy: 5.05% (n/c)
France: 2.26% (-2bp)
Japan: 0.8% (-1bp)
Germany: 1.5% (-4bp)
UK: 1.75% (-2bp)

There are 100 basis points to a percentage point.

Yields headed down on Monday as investors turned away from risk and to the haven of bonds.

One reason was the differences aired by German and French politicians last weekend over the timetable to grant the European Central Bank (ECB) supervisory powers over the Continent´s lenders.

That is a necessary pre-condition for Europe´s rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), to be able to inject funds directly into Europe´s banks.

Spain's implied borrowing costs benefitted from speculation that its government will finally get round to requesting a bailout to prop up its finances.

As the perennial calm amid the storm, the German bund also saw yields drop.
However, it was also German economic weakness that encouraged buyers, with the Ifo Institute in Munich saying business confidence had declined to the lowest level since February 2010.

MM

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