After a week of speculation that it may need a bailout, Spain has held a successful bond sale.

Thursday's auction helped the treasury raise 2.074bn euros in an auction of two-, four- and 10-year bonds, comfortably beating its own target range of 1.0-2.0bn euros, Bank of Spain figures have shown. But the funds came at a high cost, with the 10-year bonds fetching more than 6 per cent - a rate widely regarded as unsustainable for the state over the longer term.