Italian 2-year bond yields soar, gap over Germany at 4-1/2 year high

LONDON: Italy's short-dated bond yields soared on Friday as a sell-off in peripheral euro zone bond markets gathered pace on mounting concerns over political risks in Italy and Spain.

The two-year Italian bond yield rose more than 15 basis points to 0.445 percent, its highest level since June 2015.

That pushed the gap over short-dated German bond yields to its widest in 4-1/2 years at 108 bps. Italian 2-year bond yields were also set for their biggest weekly jump in five years, up 35 bps.