German benchmark borrowing costs fell below 2 per cent to all-time lows while Italy’s shot up as worries about the eurozone debt crisis and the fragility of banks once more intensified.
European lenders bore the brunt of a broad-based sell-off across equity markets while the cost of insuring bank and government debt hit record highs as investors fled from risky assets to safer ones.
German 10-year Bund yields fell 16 basis points to 1.85 per cent, their lowest ever. The move below 2 per cent tracked that of US Treasuries, which closed below that level for the first time since 1950 on Friday and were not traded on Monday due to a public holiday.