Ireland's borrowing costs fell below 9% today for the first time since February.
The interest rate, or yield, on Irish 10-year bonds has fallen consistently in recent days and weeks.
This follows changes to Ireland's bail-out and the decision by the ECB to restart its controversial bond buying programme.
The drop came on the day German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that countries that share the euro will need a common financial policy at some point.
‘One day we will have to adopt a common financial policy in Europe, after having a common monetary policy,’ Mr Schaeuble told a conference in Frankfurt.
The German minister also took a swipe at former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan, who said this week that the single European currency was breaking down.
‘If I were American I would ask myself if the dollar will still exist in 10 years,’ Mr Schaeuble quipped.
It was ‘wrong’ to believe that the euro will disappear, Mr Schaeuble said.
Mr Greenspan told a Washington forum on Tuesday that ‘the euro is breaking down’ and that uncertainty stemming from the process was holding back the US economy.
Frankfurt’s DAX index lost earlier gains in an afternoon plunge, before recovering somewhat.
There was trader talk that a short-selling ban might be enacted in Germany after the market close.
‘Hearing rumours about implementation of short-selling ban in Germany.
'Hearing investors selling futures ahead of the announcement, because once it is implemented you can't short the DAX future anymore,’ a London-based trader said.
Several European countries announced today that they were extending their bans on short-selling stocks imposed two weeks ago amid a spike in speculative trading.
‘France, Spain and Italy decided to extend their restrictions on short-selling and Belgium which had banned them for an unlimited time reaffirmed its position,’ a spokeswoman for the European Securities and Markets Authority told AFP.
France, Belgium, Spain and Italy banned the speculative practice of short-selling stocks two weeks ago as their financial markets came under intense pressure.
Meanwhile, Reuters news agency quoted a source from the source from the ruling conservatives as saying that parliament may postpone a vote on the European Financial Stability Facility to 29 September from the originally scheduled 23 September to avoid clashing with a visit by Pope Benedict.
Chancellor Angela Merkel, facing growing opposition within her own coalition to an increase in the euro bailout fund, was reported to have cancelled a trip to Russia planned for early September in order to attend a debate of centre-right politicians on the bail-outs.
The International Monetary Fund said today that Greece may get the next tranche of its bail-out financing by end-September.
‘The IMF executive board could be in position to consider approval of the next disbursement towards the end of September,’ IMF spokesman David Hawley said at a news briefing.
