Italian fears over Spain contagion

IItalian premier Mario Monti has seen nearly seven months of confidence-building efforts by his government wiped out today, when a debt auction revealed that the country’s borrowing rates are back near levels last seen in December.

A sale of 12-month bonds, a warm-up for Thursday’s weightier long-term debt auction, demonstrated the speed with which market jitters spread from Spain following Madrid’s weekend concession that its banks need a bailout.