ECB confirms €22bn record spend on bonds buying

The European Central Bank has confirmed it spent a record amount buying up bonds last week in an effort to ease concern about the Eurozone debt crisis.

News of the €22bn spend comes as final preparations are made for tomorrow's meeting between the French and German leaders in Paris.

The European Central Bank had suspended the buying back of Government bonds five months ago, but that came to abrupt end last week following intense pressure on Spain and Italy.

The bond yields for both counties began to soar at the end of July when market speculation reached fever pitch that both would need to be bailed out.

Today the ECB confirmed it spent €22bn buying back bonds last week - a record spend.

Today the financial markets have seen some sense of calm restored after last week's volitility. The ISEQ closed 42 points higher this evening, while the FTSE was up 18 points and the Dow Jones and Nasdaq both had strong openings.

All eyes will be on Paris tomorrow where the French President and the German Chancellor will meet to discuss the Eurozone crisis.

Nicholas Sarkozy and Angela Merkell will hold a joint press conference after their talks.