ECB, EU rescue fund plan joint action: report (by William L. Watts)
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- The European Central Bank and the euro-zone's rescue fund are getting ready to step in to bond markets to bring down Spanish and Italian borrowing costs, French newspaper Le Monde reported Friday, citing unnamed sources. The report said the central bank is prepared to act as long as strained governments utilize the temporary European Financial Stability Facility and the future European Stability Mechanism, which would buy Spanish and Italian debt on the primary market. The ECB would then fire up its dormant Securities Market Program to purchase bonds on the secondary market, the newspaper said.