The Middle East and corporate bond pipeline

Middle East borrowers, especially the big sovereigns, have mostly kept away from the public bond market since the US-Iran war began at the end of February. There has been much anticipation that they will return in force in September, when primary bond markets are expected to become much busier. But will they show up? We examine the latest predictions and discuss how the market is changing for these issuers as the war rumbles on.

Investment grade corporate bond issuance in Europe resumed this week after a summer lull. We pick through the deals to see what they can tell us about the weeks ahead and also examine the calendar to find that the autumn issuance window might not be a particularly clear one, especially when factoring in the US mid-term elections in November and how that might influence hyperscaler issuance.

And speaking of hyperscalers, Alphabet made its Kangaroo bond debut this week. We inspect the imapct the issuer had with its blockbuster outing and what that meant for other Kangaroo issuers and the growth of the market.