Spanish bond issues launched Thursday enjoyed strong demand, but investors demanded a higher premium to buy into the debt auction, which was seen as a major test of market confidence in Madrid's attempts to clean up its state finances, dpa reported. Spain sold 2.54 billion euros (3.32 billion dollars) of government bonds, surpassing its target of up to 2.5 billion euros. Ten-year bonds fetched an interest of 5.78 per cent, up from 5.4 per cent in the previous auction. Two-year bonds had a yield of 3.52 per cent, just above the yield of 3.519 per cent in the previous auction. Concern has mounted recently that Spain is not able to reach its budget deficit target of 5.3 per cent this year, and that it might need a bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
