Positive impact had today in bond markets the collapse of the American bank SVB; Bond prices are ticking rising as investors alarmed by developments turn to greater security that government bonds offer.

In the climate that has been created, institutional investors such as Goldman Sachs now estimate that the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States (FED) will ultimately avoid moving this week to increase its interest rates, as it had been discounted. The company had previously expected a 25 basis point increase in Fed rates. Goldman Sachs added that it still expects further rate hikes of 25 basis points in May, June and July.

The meeting of the ECB’s Board of Directors on Thursday is also eagerly awaited, which will be called upon to take its decisions on a new increase in interest rates.

In the secondary market, in the Electronic Transaction System (HDAT) the volume of transactions was 134 million euros, of which 74 million euros related to purchase orders. The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond fell to 4.26% from 4.45% on Friday versus 2.20% (from 2.63% on Friday) on the German counterpart, bringing the spread to 2.06 % from 1.82% that closed at the end of the previous week.

In the foreign exchange market the euro is moving up against the dollar today as the European currency was trading at $1.0729 in the early afternoon from the $1.0710 level at which the market opened.

The indicative euro/dollar exchange rate announced by the ECB stood at $1.0706.