Americas

It is the year of the ox in China and for equity investors 2021 is the year of the bull. Stock buyers continue to be optimists despite the economic ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic and are convinced that the spread of vaccinations across the globe will soon kick-off a festival of consumer spending.

Two SSA borrowers hit screens on Tuesday to announce benchmark bonds. Deal flow in the SSA market has slowed after the January rush, but borrowers are still keeping investors busy with a regular flow of deals.

Coupang, an e-commerce company, is planning a $1bn IPO in the US as it gets ready to become the first South Korean firm to list in New York in 10 years.

Argentina’s sovereign bonds endured a rough ride in the past week as investors and analysts worry that the government may not be as keen as it appears to reach a new agreement with the IMF by May, its previously outlined deadline.

European asset manager Amundi is launching an open-ended fund for institutional and retail investors that will buy hard currency green bonds issued by emerging markets issuers.

Entre Ríos, the only Argentine province to have faced legal proceedings as a result of the past year’s wave of bond defaults, looks set to avoid a legal battle after reaching a restructuring agreement with the creditors that had pursued it in a US court.

Peruvian mining company Volcán said on Saturday that holders of around two thirds of its $535.264m 5.375% 2022 bond had participated in a tender offer for the issue. But the borrower will only accept 35.5% of the amount tendered, and will use the majority of the proceeds of its recent five year bond issue to pay back a bank loan also maturing next year.

This week in Keeping Tabs: an opportunity for the UK's finance sector after Brexit, and an argument for why you shouldn't worry about the stock market.

Ecuador’s international bonds recovered some recent losses on Thursday after former banker Guillermo Lasso crept into second place in the vote count of last Sunday’s presidential election. Yet the first round of the election has failed to provide certainty about what economic policy making might look like under the next government.

Argentine oil and gas company YPF will avoid a hard default after the country’s central bank, the Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA) agreed to provide the issuer with sufficient dollars not just to complete a bond swap, but also to make a maturity payment on March 23 to creditors that did not participate in the company's recent debt exchange.

Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca’s bonds fell sharply in secondary markets this week after the company missed a coupon payment on its international bonds. But the decision to stay current on, and prepay, a domestic bond left some bondholders recalling previous battles with Ricardo Salinas Pliego, Mexico’s third richest man and the owner of the broadcaster.

Canada’s Equitable Bank has registered its covered bond programme this week. It expects to issue its first transaction in euros at the short end of the curve in the second quarter.