Bond Market News

US primary market issuances last week were at a mere $881mn vs. $28.8bn in the week prior with Investment grade (IG) corporates issuing $750mn of deals while high yield (HY) issuances were almost nil. The remainder was contributed by unrated issuances. The largest IG deals were led by USAA Capital raising $500mn and Southwestern Public Service raising $200mn. In North America, there were a total of 52 upgrades and 17 downgrades combined across the three major rating agencies last week. LatAm saw no issuances for a second consecutive week. In South America, there were 2 upgrades and downgrades each, across the major rating agencies. EU Corporate G3 issuances rose sharply to $40bn vs. $16.6bn in the week prior, led by banks and financial institutions – SocGen raised €2bn via a dual-trancher, Allianz and AXA raised €1bn each and Credit Suisse raised €1bn. Across the European region, there were 11 upgrades and 24 downgrades across the three major rating agencies. The GCC G3 region saw $300mn in deals vs. no new deals in the prior week, with Abu Dhabi raising the amount via a two-trancher. Across the Middle East/Africa region, there was 2 upgrades and 1 downgrade across the three major rating agencies. The APAC ex-Japan G3 region saw $7.9bn in deals vs. $3.4bn in the week prior led by Indonesia’s $3.25bn two-tranche sukuk deal and ICBC’s $2.1bn multi-currency issuance via its global branches. In the APAC region, there were 9 upgrades and 8 downgrades combined across the three major rating agencies last week.