Italian borrowing costs drop in 6-month bond sale

Italian borrowing costs for six-month paper have dropped as pressure on the Eurozone's third-largest economy eases.

The Italian Treasury says it paid an interest rate of 2.54 percent Friday in an auction that raised the maximum €8.5 billion ($10.42 billion) sought. That's down from 2.957 percent last month. The sale was oversubscribed 1.6 times.

Investor worries over the debt crisis in the 17-country eurozone have eased after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told business leaders in London yesterday that he was "ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the single currency" and hinted that bank would be allowed to act on high borrowing costs.