Bond Market News

US primary markets saw a drop in new deals last week to $12.3bn as compared to $19.8bn a week prior. Of this, IG deals accounted for $9bn led by CVS’s $5bn five-trancher and AT&T’s $2.75bn deal. HY saw $2.5bn in new deals led by Pacific Gas & Electric’s $2bn dual-trancher. In North America, there were a total of 15 upgrades and 22 downgrades across the three major rating agencies last week. US IG bond funds saw $2.7bn in outflows, reversing four straight weeks of inflows. HY funds on the other hand saw $2.2bn in outflows after $1.4bn in inflows in the week prior.

EU Corporate G3 issuance was also lower at $28.9bn vs. $41.4bn a week prior. Issuance volumes were led by SocGen’s €2.25bn and Landesbank’s €1.5bn two-tranche deals. Across the European region, there were 26 upgrades and 25 downgrades. The GCC dollar primary bond market saw $620mn in new deals led by FAB’s issuance, following $1.4bn in deals a week prior. Across the Middle East/Africa region, there were 3 upgrades and no downgrades across the major rating agencies. LatAm saw no new deals for a fifth consecutive week. The South American region saw no upgrades and 7 downgrades across the rating agencies.

G3 issuance volumes from APAC ex-Japan rose sharply to $6.1bn vs. $2.3bn a week prior to it. Hong Kong raised $2.25bn and €1.5bn via a five-tranche multi-currency green deal. Besides, KEXIM raised ~$1.3bn multi-currency three-trancher. In the APAC region, there were 8 upgrades and 22 downgrades combined across the three rating agencies last week.