With the UK on holiday (vacation), European markets were relatively quiet - apart from Italy... The Berlusconi debacle rolls on and sparked the worst sell-off in Italian sovereign bonds in 9 weeks and pushed the spread on BTPs over Bunds to its highest in 3 weeks. Most European equity markets closed mildly lower (with Germany's DAX unch - recovering from its EUREX-halting drop earlier in the day. Italian stocks were the big underperformer (down 2.2%). For the 3rd day in a row, Europe's VIX was smashed lower from an opening high print to close at its lows. The UK and its 'credit police' will be back tomorrow.
Worst day for Italian bonds in 9 weeks...
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and Italian stocks underperformed...
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but once again Europe's VIX was slammed lower...
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Seems like the Europeans are learning the US tricks?
Charts: Bloomberg