(REUTERS) Madrid – Including earlier issuance, Spain has now raised half of its gross target for this year, making the most of market liquidity after Europe’s banks took more than a trillion euros of ultra-cheap three-year cash (LTRO) from the European Central Bank in December and February.
The Treasury sold 1.1 billion euros of a bond maturing October 31, 2014, at an average yield of 3.463 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.3, compared with a ratio of 2.0 at the last auction in October.
Spain also tested market appetite for a longer-term benchmark bond, due January 31, 2022, of which it sold 1.4 billion euros at a yield of 5.743 percent.