The ECB's Ability to Prop Up Sovereign Debt Markets May Only Be Temporary

“The timing for these reported bond purchases is perfect,” said Peter Chatwell, a fixed-income strategist at Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank in London. “The ECB is buying in an extremely illiquid year-end market. Its purchases are always going to move the market in a big way. It remains to be seen what the ECB will do into the new year when the market is liquid again.”