Spanish treasury raises $2.65b in bond auction

MADRID - The Spanish treasury on Thursday sold 2.02 billion euros (2.65 billion U.S. dollars) worth of short, medium and long-term government bonds, concluding this year's capital market issuance.

The average yield of three-year benchmark bond stood at 3.358 percent, slightly below the 3.39 percent of the previous auction held on December 5. The five-year bonds carried an average interest rate of 4.2 percent, below the 4.766 percent of the previous issue.

As for the offer of the longest-maturity till 2040, the yield was 5.893 percent, above the 4.738 percent of the previous issue held in March 2009.

The Spanish stock market was calm on Thursday with the risk premium remaining slightly above the 400 points, although it temporarily dipped below this point following the agreement of EU finance ministers to give European Central Bank broad supervisory powers. (1 euro=1.31 U.S. dollars)