Spain successfully sold new bonds totalling nearly 3 billion euros (3.9 billion dollars) on Wednesday in what was seen as a major test of Europe's chances of containing the debt crisis gripping parts of the region, according to dpa. The yield on the five-year bonds came at 4.59 per cent, compared to an average yield of 3.6 per cent when similar bonds were last auctioned on November 4. Madrid's first bond action of the new year was more than two times oversubscribed. Both the euro and eurozone shares edged up in the wake of the successful launch of the new Spanish bond issue. At the Madrid stock exchange, the main Ibex-35 index rose by more than 2 per cent. Also buoying market sentiment were signs that Europe's political leadership were moving to draw up new plans to allay investors' fears about the debt crisis, that has already forced Greece and Ireland to seek a European Union-led bailout. While the eurozone's blue-chip Eurostoxx 50 edged up 0.6 per cent to 2897 points, the common currency crept back up above the 1.33-dollar mark in early European trading. But this week's auctions are likely to provide the currency bloc's most indebted nations with only a breathing space. Analysts say the cash-strapped members of the eurozone will face another major test in April, when a batch of bond redemptions are due. European officials had been concerned that an eventual international bailout of Portugal could spill over into Spain, which has a much bigger economy. This could eventually have paved the way for a breakup of the 17-member eurozone. However, Portugal's success in auctioning 10-year-bonds on Wednesday eased the pressure on Spain, whose government has adopted austerity and structural measures to deal with its economic problems. Among Spain's problems are a 2009 budget deficit of 11.1 per cent and an unemployment rate of about 20 per cent, the highest in the European Union. The government has slashed spending by tens of billions of euros, including cuts in public sector salaries, public investment and social spending, along with tax hikes and a pension freeze. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's government also introduced a controversial reform to make the labour market more flexible. It is currently trying to persuade trade unions to accept another reform, which would raise retirement age from 65 to 67 years.
