"We were all waiting for Greenspan, but Greenspan was a non-event for us," said a bond trader in London. Greenspan said the real federal funds rate "remains fairly low", and it was "imperative to restore fiscal discipline" in the United States in order to narrow the huge current account gap.
General Motors' 8.375 percent euro bond due in July 2033 was one basis point wider at 498 basis points over government debt. Rival Ford's euro bonds were about two basis points wider on the day. Ford Motor Co's 4.875 percent bond due in January 2010 was bid at 192 basis points.
Telecoms bonds too were slightly weaker, another trader said, but flows were very light. "There's very little to report," he said.
The FTSE Euro Corporate Bond Index showed investment-grade corporate bonds in euros yielding an average 40.4 basis points more than similarly dated government bonds at 1605 GMT, 0.1 basis points less on the day.
Portugal became the latest European sovereign to tap long-end demand in the bond market on Wednesday, selling a 3.0 billion euro bond due April 2021 ahead of this weekend's general election.
Last October Standard & Poor's shifted its outlook on the sovereign's AA rating to negative, saying it was concerned about budget weaknesses and the way in which one-off measures were being favoured over structural reforms.
In the high-yield market, French heavy engineering firm Alstom priced a debt swap on Wednesday, and will issue a new 6.25 percent 2010 euro bond as a result in exchange for debt maturing in 2006. The new bond will be priced at 99.829 percent of face value to give a spread of 335 basis points over the 3 percent BTAN, or French government bond, due 2010. The final size of the new issue is still to be decided.
Alstom is repairing its balance sheet under a multi-billion euro rescue plan sponsored by the French government after a series of strategic mistakes left it on the brink of collapse.