If the spirits of SSA bankers were lifted a couple of weeks ago regarding the rehabilitation of former eurozone pariahs by the reception afforded to Ireland's new-year foray into the bond market, then they will have gone through the roof last week, given what Portugal and Italy managed to achieve. While Ireland restricted itself to the seven-year part of the curve, the southern European sovereigns pushed the envelope - and their maturity aspirations - by issuing 30-year debt. The rationale is plain to see - improving economic stability, ultra-low returns at the shorter end and growing prospects for some sort of sovereign bond-buying initiative -but there is still a leap of faith involved. It's true that this was not breaking entirely new ground. Italy had already revisited the 30-year space in May 2013, although a glance at the respective yields it paid tells the story - 4.985% then, 3.291% now.
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