LONDON: Spanish bond yields rose for a fifth straight day yesterday, on track for their biggest weekly rise since mid-2013 as investors worry that Scotland’s independence referendum is emboldening Catalan separatists.
Hundreds of thousands of people packed the streets of wealthy Catalonia’s capital Barcelona on Thursday to demand the right to vote on independence from Spain, encouraged by next week’s vote that could split Scotland from the United Kingdom.
The government in Madrid has not recognised a referendum planned for November in Catalonia — which accounts for 20 percent of Spain’s national wealth — but some investors have nevertheless trimmed their exposure to the country’s bonds. Spanish 10-year bond yields were up 4 basis points at 2.36 percent, reversing most of last week’s fall triggered by the European Central Bank’s surprise monetary stimulus package. They have risen about 30 basis points over the week, their biggest weekly rise since mid-June 2013.
Reuters
