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But these countries' new, higher borrowing rates remain far below the levels that last year made people fear the eurozone might break up. Then, Italy's 10-year yield was at 6.36 percent and Spain's had hit 7.38 percent.
Those yields fell after the European Central Bank offered to buy government bonds. No bonds were bought, but the mere proposal helped send yields lower.
"I think what we saw yesterday was an overreaction," said Luca Cazzulani, deputy head of fixed income strategy at UniCredit Research. "In terms of borrowing costs, I don't see a source of concern right now."
Analysts also stressed that the reason Bernanke has made this announcement was because the U.S. economy is currently showing signs of improvement -- and that is good news for Europe. A healthier U.S. will buy more European exports. And the end of the Fed's bond purchases will likely push up the value of the U.S. dollar against the euro, making European products less expensive in America.
"A stronger U.S. economy and a weaker euro could be a net plus for the eurozone as a whole," Prasad said.
Ultimately it is growth that will help Europe reduce its debt. European leaders are also working to strengthen oversight of their banking system, while national governments have been making halting progress toward making their economies more business-friendly so they can grow faster.
Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING, pointed out that Europe's weak economy means that the European Central Bank will be keeping its rates down or even cutting them from the current record low of 0.5 percent to support the weak eurozone economy.
That will tend to keep rates lower in Europe. He said bond yields "should not be affected by tapering. I personally expect that markets will calm down again.
"The biggest worries for peripheral bond yields is clearly homemade stuff and not Bernanke tapering."
[Associated
Press;
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