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Bloomberg
The European Central Bank bought notes in the region’s corporate bond markets for a second day.
Purchases included securities issued by troubled German carmaker Volkswagen AG; Continental AG, Europe’s second-biggest car-parts maker; and French mobile company Orange SA.
ECB President Mario Draghi expanded the bond-buying program he started on Wednesday to stimulate the region’s flagging economy.
He’s casting his net as wide as the plan allows to ensure it makes an impact, with purchases of bonds with as little as a single investment-grade rating.
The first day of acquisitions included notes from Telecom Italia SpA, according to people familiar with the matter, who aren’t authorized to speak about it and asked not to be identified.
Italy’s biggest phone company has speculative-grade ratings at both Moody’s Investors Service and S&P Global Ratings.
The company’s bonds only qualify for the central bank’s purchase program because Fitch Ratings ranks it at investment grade.