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%. 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.

(Reporting by Yoruk Bahceli; editing by Thyagaraju Adinarayan)