04/03/2015
QE in the Eurozone
Just a quick look at eurozone bond yields over the past year, as well as the change since the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) program formally went into effect on March 9. [So I’ll note the yield the Friday before, March 6] I include non-euro Britain, the U.S. and Japan for comparison.
10-year yields...3/31/14...3/6/15...3/31/15
Germany 1.57 (3/31/14)... 0.39 (3/6/15)... 0.18 (3/31/15)
France 2.08... 0.69... 0.47
Italy 3.29... 1.31... 1.24
Netherlands 1.91... 0.43... 0.34
Portugal 4.06... 1.74... 1.67
Spain 3.22... 1.29... 1.20
Greece 6.25... 9.09... 11.31
Britain 2.74... 1.95... 1.58
Japan 0.63... 0.39... 0.39
United States 2.73... 2.24... 1.94
You can see how rates moved down across the eurozone (save Greece) in anticipation of QE, but since the actual launch, in the likes of key Spain and Italy the moves after have been minimal following initial steep declines. Since these moves, rates have been ticking back up, though are still at historic lows.
Greece, of course, is the outlier due to the renewal of its debt crisis.
*The euro yields may vary by a few basis points depending on your stat source. Mine is largely Bloomberg.com. Sometimes it is hard nailing down the exact closing yields across the pond.
Wall Street History will return in two weeks.
Brian Trumbore
