Outstanding settled purchases under CBPP3 increased by Eu2.691bn last week, according to figures published by the European Central Bank yesterday (Monday), with analysts noting that the purchase programme maintained a pace close to the weekly average since it started.

Monday’s figure took total CBPP3 outstandings to Eu42.946bn as of Friday, up from Eu40.255bn at the end of the previous reporting period.

Last week three CBPP3 eligible deals settled, totalling Eu2.25bn. Analysts at Crédit Agricole estimated the Eurosystem bought Eu419m, or an average of 19%, of these deals, suggesting the bank again focussed on the secondary market to keep overall volumes on track. The overall daily average of purchasing volumes under CBPP3 is now Eu632m, down by Eu7m from last week, they said.

Four CBPP3-eligible deals will settle in the current reporting period – a Eu1bn Belfius 10 year, a Eu750m BPCE seven year, a Eu500m HSH Nordbank three year, and a Eu300m Hypo Landesbank Vorarlberg 10 year Eu300m sub-benchmark – totalling Eu2.55bn. Analysts expect next week’s figure to reveal that the Eurosystem bought larger shares of these deals than of the previous week’s, leading to a larger contribution from primary market deals, while the pace of secondary buying is maintained, resulting in an overall figure higher than this week’s.

“We estimate the CBPP3 bought around Eu720mn of these deals (28%) based on the order book statistics,” said Jussi Harju, covered bond analyst at Barclays. “Based on the current pace of secondary purchases of Eu447m per day, we expect the CBPP3 portfolio to grow by approximately Eu3bn by 13 February 2015.”

Analysts noted that outstandings under the ECB’s asset-backed securities purchase programme (ABSPP) recorded their biggest increase of the year yesterday, up Eu332m to Eu2.662bn.