AMSTERDAM- The bond issues on Tuesday that kicked off the European Union's funding of its coronavirus support programmes rallied sharply in the secondary market on Wednesday.

The EU raised 17 billion euros ($20.2 billion) from the sale of 10 and 20-year "social" bonds to start funding its SURE unemployment scheme, which received the highest level of demand in history for a bond sale. 

The 10-year bond yield fell some 12 basis points from the yield at which it priced on Tuesday to -0.359% EU000A283859 . The 20-year bond yield dropped 11 basis points to 0.025%. 

Given that demand exceeded the EU's issuance on Tuesday by nearly 14-times and that the EU originaly offered a higher yield than France, which has lower credit ratings, the rally had been expected.

($1 = 0.8438 euros)

(Reporting by Yoruk Bahceli; editing by Thyagaraju Adinarayan) ((Yoruk.Bahceli@thomsonreuters.com; +44 20 7542 7571; Reuters Messaging: yoruk.bahceli@thomsonreuters.com))