Secondary market settlements under CBPP3 recovered from 2018 lows to hit their highest average daily rate for two months last week, amid a lack of new eligible supply, although gross purchases remained well below the year average.

ECB figures released on Monday show that in the week to last Friday the CBPP3 portfolio increased EUR522m, from EUR249.452bn to EUR249.974bn. Figures released yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon show that around EUR100m of CBPP3 holdings matured last week, implying gross purchases of some EUR622m.

This is up from gross purchases of around EUR255m in the previous week, but is still well below the 2018 average of EUR1.218bn.

No CBPP3-eligible issuance settled last week, so last week’s figures relate to four days of secondary market settlements, with the week shortened by the Easter holiday period. Secondary market purchases therefore averaged around EUR155m per day last week.

This is the highest average for secondary market purchases since the week commencing 5 February and one of the highest of the year so far, according to analysts’ estimates.

In the two weeks previous, secondary market purchases had fallen to their lowest levels of the year so far, at an estimated EUR15bn-EUR35bn per day, with the Eurosystem’s focus then firmly on the primary market.

Joost Beaumont, senior fixed income strategist at ABN Amro, noted that the increase in secondary buying came after the ECB had been “hardly visible” in the secondary market over the previous three weeks.

“Overall, this shows the practical approach of the Eurosystem,” he said.