MADRID (AP) — Spanish markets breathed a sigh of relief Monday with stocks opening higher and the country's borrowing costs dipping slightly after pro-bailout parties won the elections in Greece.
The Ibex-35 stock index opened about 1.5 percent higher while the interest rate Spanish 10-year bonds — a benchmark of market confidence in a country's ability to pay down its debt — was down nearly 7 basis points at 6.86 percent. That is still dangerously close to the 7 percent rate considered by market watchers to be unsustainable over the long term and the point at which Greece, Ireland and Portugal sought a bailout.
Spain is a focus of fears it might be the next eurozone country to need a full bailout. The government is to announce this week how much of a €100 billion fund it will tap to rescue banks that got burned when a real estate bubble popped.
