Greek bond spreads rise, pushed by ‘debt restructuring’ speculation

The cost of insuring Greek and other peripheral bonds against default rose on Friday as higher-yielding euro zone issuers suffered with investors continuing to fret over fiscal problems. Five-year credit default swaps (CDS) on Greek government debt rose by 60 basis points to 815 bps, according to data monitor Markit. This means it costs 815,000 euros to protect 10 million euros of exposure to Greek bonds.

Concerns over revisions to the Greek deficit and continued tension over whether the Portuguese parliament will approve the country's 2011 budget have spooked investors.

Portuguese CDS was at 392 bps, up 21 bps on the day, and Irish CDS rose by 20 bps to 485 bps.