The European Central Bank slowed its bond purchases last week, spending €2.243 billion as money markets showed some signs of improvement after the bank's record liquidity injection late last month.
The latest purchases take the total the ECB has spent on bonds since starting the programme in May 2010 to €219 billion.
Last week's purchases are a marked decrease on the €3.766 billion it bought the week before, but close to market estimates.
The ECB's injection of almost €500 billion into the banking system has helped recent bond auctions by struggling euro zone member states such as Spain and Italy, as some banks used the funds from the ECB first three-year loan offering to buy these countries' debt, analysts said.
Spain for example, whose 10-year auction yields peaked in November at just under 7%, managed last week to sell more than expected in its first 10-year bond offering since mid-December, at a yield of 5.403%.
This has raised hopes that investors' demand for debt from weaker euro zone countries is returning.
The ECB has so far resisted calls for a stronger intervention in the bond market, saying only governments can implement the needed reforms to bring budget deficits under control and to restore investors' trust.
Many economists see the ECB as the only institution with firepower to calm bond markets if the debt crisis worsens, but ECB President Mario Draghi and other top policymakers have continued to reject calls for the bank to ramp up its purchases.
Solid demand for German short-term debt
Germany won solid demand at a sale of one-year debt today, paying an ultra-low average rate that suggested investors are rushing to park cash in a safe haven in the crisis.
Germany, Europe's top economy, received €5.5 billion of bids for €3 billion worth of 12-month bonds on offer. It sold €2.54 billion, keeping back €460m for later sale, according to its usual practice.
It paid an average rate of 0.07%, suggesting investors are prepared to earn almost nothing to hold German debt.
The strong auction was the latest in a series of positive debt sales in the crisis-wracked euro zone that has given investors cheer despite this month's downgrade of several nations' credit rating by Standard and Poor's.
Germany is one of only four euro zone countries - the others being Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - that continue to enjoy a top triple-A rating from S&P after the downgrades.
But Germany's safe-haven status was called into question in November when an auction of 10-year debt attracted minimal demand, sending markets into tailspin. At that time, Germany received bids for only €3.9 billion worth of Bunds, despite offering €6 billion.
Since then, Germany has enjoyed strong demand for debt of all maturities. In January, the rate paid to investors for a six-month bond turned negative for the first time ever, meaning they were effectively paying Germany to stash their money in a safe place.
