Markets aren’t convinced the European Central Bank can lift interest rates and keep the bond yields of the euro area’s most-indebted members in check at the same time. Italy, one of the nations most vulnerable to rising borrowing costs, saw its 10-year debt post the biggest slide since the pandemic as ECB President Christine Lagarde outlined plans Thursday for a first rate hike in more than a decade. The spread over German bonds, meanwhile, edged toward levels that last prompted the ECB to start buying sovereign debt in an effort to stabilize the currency bloc as Covid-19 swept across the continent in March 2020. ... (full story)