Gross CBPP3 purchases registered last week were double the previous week and, at some EUR1.353bn, the highest since May, with most of the buying done in the primary market on the back of a marked increase in eligible supply.

ECB figures released on Monday show the CBPP3 portfolio increased EUR1.253bn in the week to last Friday, from EUR255.069bn to EUR256.322bn. Figures released on Tuesday show that around EUR100m CBPP3 holdings matured last week, implying gross purchases of around EUR1.353bn.

These are the highest net increase and gross purchase figures since the week commencing 28 May. Gross purchases were last week up from EUR647m in the previous week and above the 2018 average of EUR1.013bn.

Seven CBPP3-eligible benchmark deals and two CBPP3-eligible taps settled last week, totalling EUR5.75bn, of which analysts estimated the Eurosystem was allocated EUR915m-EUR1bn. This implies that secondary market purchases averaged around EUR71m-EUR88m, down from estimates of around EUR100m-EUR109m per day in the previous week, when just EUR1bn of eligible supply settled.