Basis point

Economists expect that Turkey's Central Bank will drop interest rates this week, an Anadolu Agency survey forecast on May 18.

The fifth meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) this year will be held on May 21 to announce the bank's decision on interest rates.

Southern European bond yields fell by about 10 basis points on Friday as markets remained focused on European Central Bank action to mitigate eurozone economic stress and prevent Italy's credit rating from tumbling into junk territory.
European Union leaders agreed a 1.5-trillion-euro rescue package but delayed a decision on the program's details until the summer. 

Italian bond yields soared on Monday while safe-haven German debt yields hit new record lows and eurozone inflation expectations tumbled to unprecedented levels as a crash in oil prices amplified recession fears spurred by coronavirus.

The yield on the Greek benchmark 10-year bond posted the biggest decline in the eurozone this year, amounting to 290 basis points (2.9 percentage points) according to a Reuters report on Monday.
The Italian equivalent decreased 137 bps, while those of Germany, the Netherlands and France are expected to end the year with drops of between 45 and 60 bps.

Expectations that the European Central Bank will loosen monetary policy, turning investors to eurozone periphery bonds, and domestic political developments led Greek bond yields into a fresh dive on Tuesday, paving the way for another market foray after this Sunday's general election.

Greek 10-year government bond yields fell below 3 percent for the first time on Friday, pushing its cost of 10-year funding to 20 basis points over Italy - an all-time low.
Greek 10-year bond yields dropped seven basis points to an all-time low of 2.98 percent as investors bet on a brighter outlook for Greece ahead of a snap election.

Greek government bond yields dropped on Tuesday after a Bloomberg report suggested the country is considering an early repayment of part of its loans from the International Monetary Fund.

Greece's benchmark 10-year bond yield staged a remarkable rise on Monday as it increased by 2.61 percent to 4.35 percentage points.

This was up 10 basis points from last Friday's 4.25 percentage points.

Greek state bonds benefited from a more positive mood in Italy on Thursday, with the country's 10-year bond yield hitting a four-week low of 4.26 percent, down 7 basis points on the day.

[Reuters]

Italian government bond yields fell on Thursday as improved risk sentiment in global markets allowed the market to recover some ground from the previous day's sharp sell-off.

Italy's 10-year paper fell five basis points on Thursday morning to 2.80 percent, before rising to 2.82 percent with markets continuing to digest headlines on the 2019 budget.