TORONTO: Canada's sale of 5-year government bonds met with decent demand on Wednesday as mounting euro zone debt concerns kept investors attracted to markets viewed as safer havens.
The auction came amid a global equity and commodity selloff on Wednesday as a poor sale of German benchmark bonds ignited fears the European debt crisis would engulf the regional economic powerhouse.
After one of the least successful debt sales by Germany since the launch of the single currency, the euro tumbled and European shares sank to seven-week lows.
"The timing behind the German auction was much less fortuitous given the global backdrop. When you're going to buy a German bond you really need to be making an implicit statement of how you see the crisis shaking out," said Ian Pollick, fixed income strategist at RBC Capital Markets.
"When you look at a jurisdiction like Canada there are a lot fewer structural problems. We don't have the same political problems. Our economy for the time being is very good. It's that whole idea of international weakness pitted against domestic strength."
Canada's sale of C$3.5 billion ($3.3 billion) of bonds due 2017 produced an average yield of 1.441 percent, down from 1.729 percent at the October auction.
There was more than C$7.7 billion in bids from primary dealers, resulting in a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.2, down from 2.316 at the last auction.
"It did go through market very slightly, which does suggest to me there was decent demand for it," said Pollick.
"If people are sitting back and saying 'I expect the world to be a much worse off place and conditions to get worse', then that's obviously bond bullish," he added.
The Bank of Canada said it bought C$700 million of the issue for itself and on behalf of its clients.
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