Merkel is ‘winner’ as German yields stay low

After pursuing the toughest of tough negotiating lines, markets declared Angela Merkel and German bonds the victors from the weekend EU leaders’ summit by granting Greece a new €86bn bailout for three years without conceding to the demands of Greek leader Alexis Tsipras.

Despite enduring prolonged uncertainty over the weekend, eurozone sovereign bond markets ended little changed yesterday — with the cost to Germany of borrowing from debt markets remaining at low levels.

“The markets appear to have called it right — Greece is still in the eurozone and markets did not get too carried away before the weekend,” said Ryan McGrath, head of fixed income at Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland. “Europe again brought it right to the wire, but we have got used to that over the years, right up to the opening of the markets on Monday.