The ECB last week registered a fall in gross CBPP3 buying to its lowest level of the year for a full five day week, just EUR433m, as options on the primary market were limited and buying on the secondary market, while contributing the majority of purchases, fell.

European Central Bank figures released yesterday (Monday) show that in the week to last Friday, settled and outstanding purchases under the third covered bond purchase programme increased EUR433m, from EUR246.773bn to EUR247.216bn. Figures released today (Tuesday) show that no CBPP3 holdings matured last week.

Gross purchases were therefore down from around EUR909m in the previous week and well below the 2017 average of EUR1.1bn per week.

The last time gross purchases were lower in a full five day week was August. In the first week of 2018, gross purchases totalled EUR96m, but these relate to just two days of purchases on the secondary market.

Analysts noted that net CBPP3 purchases last week amounted to 9% of the APP portfolio growth, exactly in line with the previous week.

“Overall, the share of the CBPP3 in the total net purchases is likely to come out at around 10% in February, roughly in line with the 11% of January, and double the share in 2017,” added Joost Beaumont, senior fixed income strategist at ABN Amro.

Last week, EUR575m of CBPP3-eligible issuance settled, comprising one EUR500m benchmark and one tap, of which analysts estimate the Eurosystem bought a combined EUR130m, down from estimates of just over EUR200m of primary market buying in the previous week.

Analysts therefore calculate that secondary market purchases averaged around EUR60m per day last week, down from around EUR141m per day in the previous week.