Ireland may try bond sale

Ireland may try an “opportunistic” bond sale should its debt continue a two-and-a-half-month rally after the European Central Bank floods banks with a second round of three-year loans later this month, according to Dublin-based Goodbody Stockbrokers.

The country’s two-year bonds yielded 4.47% yesterday, down from 10.06% on November 25. Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency, which last sold bonds in 2010, may try a sale if the yield falls below 4%, said chief economist at Goodbody Dermot O’Leary.

NTMA spokesman David Clerkin declined to comment on the timing of a market return.