Italy bond yields rise, BTP futures tumble as Italy sticks to deficit target

LONDON: Italian government bond yields rose sharply on Wednesday and BTP futures tumbled after Italy resent its 2019 budget to the European Commission with unchanged growth and budget deficit assumptions, but falling debt targets.

Italy's initial draft budget for next year was rejected last month for breaking European Union rules.

Italian government bond or BTP futures tumbled over 50 ticks at the open, while bond yields were 5-7 basis points higher across the curve and the Italian/German 10-year bond yield gap widened to 311 bps from around 303 bps late Tuesday.