Italy, Spanish bond yields jump on contagion fear

(MarketWatch) -- The yield premium demanded by investors to hold Italian and Spanish government bonds versus German debt pressed further into euro-era record territory Monday as European officials prepared to meet to discuss a second bailout for Greece and fears the region's debt crisis could spread to Italy. The yield on 10-year Italian government bonds, which moves inversely to price, rose by around 17 basis points to 5.37%, according to FactSet Research data, pushing the yield premium versus German bunds to around 2.6 percentage points. The yield on 10-year Spanish government bonds rose 12 basis points to 5.77%, pushing the premium versus Germany to around 3 percentage points.