French 50-yr Meets Strong Demand

I mentioned Pimco's interest in European yields and not too surprisingly others saw it the same way.

France became the first Group of Seven industrialised country to issue a 50-year bond in modern times, extending the duration in the market from the 30-year segment.

The size of the issue was increased to EUR 6bn from a targeted EUR 3bn-5bn after investors placed orders worth more than EUR 19bn for the bonds, which will mature in April 2055. The strong demand was initially driven by institutional investors including pension and insurance funds, which need longer-dated assets to match their liabilities from an ageing population.