The ECB last week registered the biggest weekly gross CBPP3 purchases in over three months, with the Eurosystem buying some EUR1.436bn of covered bonds amid increased issuance and a rise in secondary market buying.

ECB figures released on Monday show the CBPP3 portfolio increased EUR936m, from EUR257.603bn to EUR258.539bn in the week to last Friday. This is the biggest week-on-week net increase in CBPP3 holdings since the week commencing 9 July.

Figures released yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon show that around EUR500m of CBPP3 portfolio holdings matured last week, implying gross purchases of around EUR1.436bn.

These are the largest weekly gross purchases since the week commencing 28 May. They are well above the previous week’s gross purchases, of some EUR659m, and the 2018 weekly average, EUR890m.

Over the summer period CBPP3 purchases fell to record weekly and monthly lows amid the typical seasonal issuance drought and limited secondary activity.

Seven CBPP3-eligible benchmark deals and one CBPP3-eligible tap settled last week, totalling EUR5bn of Eurozone supply. Analysts estimated the Eurosystem bought around EUR860m-EUR950m of this primary market supply, which would imply secondary market purchases averaged around EUR95m-EUR115m per day last week – among the highest weekly secondary market purchases figures since July.