Market turbulence returned to the eurozone on Tuesday amid renewed investor concerns about the health of Europe’s economy and fears that Spain could become the fourth member country to need emergency rescue loans.
Spanish 10-year bond yields, which have an inverse relationship with prices, jumped above 6 per cent for the first time since the European Central Bank began flooding the region’s banks with €1tr in cheap loans in December.
Spanish stocks dropped 3 per cent to their lowest levels since March 2009. Italian equities dropped 5 per cent and Italian 10-year bond yields rose about a quarter of a percentage point to 5.68 per cent. Shares of Italy’s two biggest banks UniCredit and Intesa Sanpaolo fell 8 per cent.