Bund futures fall after Greece approves reforms

LONDON: German Bund futures fell at the open on Monday after the Greek parliament approved austerity measures that took
13 Feb, 2012

Market sentiment has been yo-yoing in recent weeks as Greek political parties struggled to agree on the painful reforms demanded by the IMF and the EU in exchange for a second 130 billion euro bailout.

Hurdles still remain with euro zone finance ministers expecting Greece to explain how 325 million euros of this year's total budget cuts, as yet unspecified, will be achieved before they approve the bailout at a meeting on Wednesday.

This is likely to keep the recovery in riskier assets in check, limiting falls in German government bond prices, traders and strategist said.

"Risk appetite will have a small recovery without getting too carried away as there are still a few hurdles to clear...and after Friday's sharp rally Bunds will give a little bit back but I'm not convinced," a trader said.

"The (Greeks) can vote anything through that doesn't mean they're going to implement it," he added.

The March Bund future was 32 ticks down at 137.91 compared with 138.23 while German 10-year yields were 3.3 basis points up at 1.96 percent.

Copyright Reuters, 2012

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