State debt agency IGCP said the allotment yield on the benchmark 10-year bond fell sharply to 1.568 percent from 1.908 percent in November. The yield in the auction was lower than the secondary market level of around 1.61 percent.

The longer bonds maturing in 2034 yielded 2.045 percent, down from 2.257 percent at the previous auction of the same maturity in July.

The IGCP sold 705 million euros of 10-year bonds and 295 million euros of 15-year paper. Demand exceeded the amount placed by 2.17 times on the shorter maturity and by 2.29 times on the longer one.