Reuters ahead with ECB’s new 750 bln euro package; market reacts

Reuters was ahead with news of the European Central Bank launching a 750 billion euro emergency bond purchase scheme, in a bid to stop a pandemic-induced financial rout from shredding the euro zone’s economy. Under pressure to act to bring down borrowing costs for indebted, virus-stricken countries such as Italy, the new dedicated bond-purchase scheme from the ECB brings its planned purchases for this year to 1.1 trillion euro, with the newly agreed buys alone worth 6% of the euro area’s GDP. Spreads of euro zone periphery bonds against Germany fell sharply on the news, with most at risk Italy seeing yields fall by 100 basis points against safe-haven German bunds.