Italy and Spain sold debt on Tuesday with little difficulty and at borrowing costs that rang few alarm bells. One or two of the banks which had bought Italy's inflation-linked bonds from the Treasury were, however, quick to sell the paper given a huge recent issue of retail paper that was also tied to price rises. This pushed Italian bonds yields higher in the secondary market. Italy also sold a two-year zero-coupon bond at an average 2.35 percent yield, down from 3.01 percent a month ago, thanks to sustained demand from banks rich in European Central Bank liquidity. It was the lowest auction yield for this kind of ... (full story)