CBPP3 last week recorded its highest gross purchases of covered bonds since March, Eu1.527bn, as primary market purchases increased on the back of a wave of Eurozone deals priced at the start of September.

ECB figures released on Monday show that in the week to last Friday the CBPP3 portfolio grew Eu1.027bn, from Eu228.952bn to Eu229.979bn. Portfolio redemption figures released yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon show that some Eu500m of CBPP3 holdings matured last week, implying gross purchases of around Eu1.527bn.

This is up from around Eu1.229bn in the previous week and the highest figure since the week commencing 20 March, when gross purchases totalled around Eu1.74bn. The average for weekly gross purchases this year is some Eu1.12bn.

A total of Eu3.5bn of CBPP3-eligible benchmark supply settled last week, comprising four deals launched between 4 and 6 September, of which analysts estimate the Eurosystem bought some Eu900m-Eu1bn.

This implies that secondary market purchases averaged around Eu105m-Eu125m per day, down from around Eu221m per day in the previous week, but closer to the estimated average over recent months.