The Italian............>

ITALY T-BILL AUCTION PREVIEW: The Italian Dipartimento Del Tesoro issue a new

6-month Dec 31, 2018 BOT for E6.5bln Wednesday. 

- RV: The mid-yield on the old 6-month Nov 30, 2018 BOT is currently seen at

-0.004% according to Tradeweb, towards the bottom end of its very wide 1-month

range of between 0.685% to -0.195%. As for the new Dec 31, 2018 BOT the grey

market is indicating a mid-yield of around 0.085%, representing a 9bp discount

to the old 6-month BOT, which looks very cheap on the curve. The markets will

also be looking at the tail, as at the last 6-month auction it had ballooned to

73.7bps from 0.4bp previously.

- HISTORY: For comparison, at the last 6-month auction on May 29, the finance

ministry sold E5.5bln at an average yield of -0.213% and bid-to-cover of 1.19

times. Prior to this on Apr 26, E6bln was sold at an average yield of -0.421%

and cover of 1.65 times. 

- REDEMPTION: There will be a BOT redemption on Mar 29 totalling E6bln, leaving

net cash flow flat which is seen underpinning demand. 

- TIMING: Results are due to be announced at around 0905GMT.