Robeco: EZB startet QE-Programm
Die Europäische Zentralbank wird heute mit ihrem angekündigten Anleiheankaufprogramm in Höhe von 60 Milliarden Euro monatlich beginnen.09.03.2015 | 08:59 Uhr
Peripheral markets posted strong returns this week, especially around and after Thursday’s ECB meeting. Mario Draghi confirmed the start of the ECB government bond buying program from next Monday onwards. Portuguese bonds have returned 6.2% this year, Italian bonds 4.6%, Spanish bonds 3.0% and Irish bonds 2.2%.
European Central Bank
The ECB announced the technicalities of its ‘Public Sector Purchase Program’ (PSPP), which will start on Monday March 9. Purchases of assets with a negative yield are permissible, but only down to a yield of -/- 0.2%, in line with the ECB deposit rate. The ECB said it wasn’t concerned over a perceived lack of bonds available for purchase under its bond-buying program. Markets have anticipated a possible scarcity of eligible bonds.
Italy
Istat confirmed Italy’s real GDP was flat in the fourth quarter of 2014. This marked the 14th consecutive quarter with either negative or flat real GDP growth.
Spain
Support for the currently ruling Partido Popular continues to rise. The latest polls show a win of 32% of the votes if elections were held today, against only 18% for left-wing Podemos. Economic improvement and declining unemployment support the current government.
Spain announced an early repayment of EUR 1.5 billion of the financial sector bailout to the ESM. Back in 2012, Spain received a total of EUR 41 billion to save the banking sector.
Greece
Greece is planning to present six reform proposals at the upcoming Eurogroup meeting on Monday March 9. This Friday Greece repaid the first part of IMF loans which are due in March.
Robeco Euro Government Bonds
We remain positive on peripheral bond markets as fundamentals are improving and the ECB has clearly shown its determination to do ‘whatever it takes’. Peripheral bonds remain attractive in this environment. The fund has a preference for longer-dated peripheral bonds. In longer dated bonds we prefer Spain to Italy based on better fundamentals.