Americas

The SSA market on Thursday was digesting the result of the previous night’s Federal Reserve meeting. Fed chair Jerome Powell took a dovish stance in spite of high economic growth, and some market participants believe that the strengthening inflation outlook could hurt demand for bonds at the long end of the curve.

Deutsche Bank and Standard Chartered sold their first green and sustainable bonds in dollars this week, giving US investors a chance pick up supply that would normally be expected to arrive in euros.

A booming equity-linked market in the US is tempting a more diverse range of issuers to sell convertible bonds ahead of an expected economic rebound later this year, writes Aidan Gregory.

The SSA market on Thursday was digesting the result of the previous night's Federal Reserve meeting. Fed chair Jerome Powell took a dovish stance in spite of high economic growth and some market participants believe that the strengthening inflation outlook could hurt demand for bonds at the long end of the curve.

Suriname asked bondholders for more time to reach a crucial agreement with the IMF on Wednesday evening, requesting investors extend a previously agreed holiday on all bond payments.

Moody’s became the third rating agency in four months to downgrade Panama’s sovereign rating, cutting the borrower from Baa1 to Baa2 on Wednesday afternoon on the back of an “unusually large” erosion of the country’s fiscal strength during the coronavirus pandemic.

Verizon Communications, the US telecoms group, embarked on an almost $3bn niche currency bond issuing spree this week, which included the largest foreign Swiss franc bond since early 2018.

More US companies are rushing to take advantage of rising share prices by issuing convertible bonds, including Ford Motor Co, which is bringing a giant $2bn deal.

Chinese video sharing and gaming platform Bilibili is set to launch its Hong Kong secondary offering this week, after winning listing approval from the city’s bourse.

Bond bankers say new issuance from Latin America is unlikely to pick up until after Easter, even though they believe the technical dynamics in the market remain favourable for issuers.

Aberdeen Standard Investments, the asset manager with over £450bn ($625m) of assets under management, has hired an emerging markets economist from research firm Capital Economics.

Smart Share Global is drumming up interest in its Nasdaq IPO, which is expected to hit the market in late March, according to a source close to the trade.