A potential for a snap election has generated huge interest from abroad but Irish bonds and the euro were left untouched as investors bet the effect on the looming Brexit summit would be limited, writes Eamon Quinn.

The left-wing laggards in France’s presidential campaign are talking about uniting, a move that may elbow out centrists from the second round and improve the anti-euro Marine Le Pen’s chances of victory.

More and more companies are benefiting from lower borrowing costs by issuing bonds.

The head of a leading German think tank has attacked the purchase by the ECB which got under way yesterday of corporate bonds, saying the quantitative easing measures designed to boost the eurozone economy and which involve buying debt directly from big companies was “dangerous”.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said the sale of bonds this morning shows that there is no market concern about the new Government.

McDonald’s is marketing euro bonds, taking advantage of borrowing costs that have fallen to the lowest in a year because of the ECB’s expanding its stimulus programme.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has today completed an auction of €750m of the benchmark 10-year Irish Government 1% Treasury Bond 2026, at a yield of 0.817 %.

US engineering and construction firm Fluor is marketing bonds in euro as the company takes advantage of falling borrowing costs following fresh stimulus measures by the ECB.

Holders of UK’s government gilts or bonds need not fear the prospect of Britain voting to leave the EU as they stand to benefit from any economic woes that follow the vote, according to one of the world’s largest money managers.

Deutsche Bank plans to buy back about $5.4bn of bonds in euros and dollars as it seeks to allay investor concerns about its finances.

The National Treasury Management Agency says that it plans to issue €6-10bn of long-term bonds over the course of next year.

Sex, money, betrayal: The bizarre brawl between American Apparel and its founder, Dov Charney, has all that and more. But now this tabloid tale is coming down to a seemingly staid bit of finance: The bonds.

Short-dated notes outperformed other euro-area government debt amid speculation the European Central Bank is moving closer to extending its stimulus measures, even as president Mario Draghi said more time is required to judge the need.

Italy is set to put senior unsecured bank bonds in line for losses with a law that facilitates writedowns to prevent taxpayer bailouts.

A new economic study has found that Germany benefitted from the Greek crisis to the tune of €100bn.

Bond markets reacted passively to Greece’s decision to emphatically reject its creditors bailout proposals yesterday, with Irish bond yields climbing only marginally.

International investors are now paying Ireland to borrow its money.

The National Treasury Management Agency completed the sale of €500m in Irish bonds this morning.

The amount of bonds eligible for the ECB to buy under its quantitative-easing programme is poised to shrink as the purchases risk pushing more yields below zero, according to Societe Generale.

NAMA has today redeemed another €1bn of its senior bonds, its first redemption of 2015.

Ireland's cost of borrowing has fallen below 1% for the first time.

European Central Bank vice-president Vitor Constancio said €1 trillion of asset-backed securities (ABS) and covered bonds are eligible for purchase by the institution.