Asia Pacific

India rejoiced late last week when Moody’s upgraded the sovereign's rating for the first time in 14 years. The boost has certainly stirred up some positive sentiment around the country and is a great stamp of approval for the numerous reforms it has put in place over the past year. But in reality, it will be business as usual, and the ratings lift will only have a limited impact — unless India thinks big.

Union Bank of the Philippines made diversification its focus in its return to the dollar debt market after a 13 year absence, netting $400m from a tightly priced offering.

Universal Medical Financial & Technical Advisory Services has doubled its debut financing to $600m, with 13 banks joining in general syndication.

Chiyu Banking Corp and Shanghai Commercial Bank hit the debt market for their debut international subordinated bonds on Tuesday, but each was met with a different response from investors.

Investment grade issuers China State Construction International Holdings and Shenzhen International Holdings raised $800m and $300m, respectively, on Tuesday. But their bonds struggled to perform in secondary due to lingering softness in the market.

China’s Ministry of Finance is set to hold its second offshore renminbi (CNH) bond auction of the year on November 30 in Hong Kong. The Rmb7bn ($1.06bn) offering will come just a month after China sold its first dollar bond in over a decade.

Export-Import Bank of China (Chexim) extended its curve with a 30 year dollar bond on Tuesday, part of a multi-tranche deal in which it raised a hefty $3.275bn in two currencies.

Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development Co has priced its IPO at the top of guidance, raising Bt23.9bn ($730.4m) from the largest corporate listing in the country in over a decade.

A banker at DBS’s syndicated finance unit in Hong Kong has left the Singaporean firm after five years, according to sources close to the matter.

The barrage of Chinese debt issuers in the dollar market continued on Wednesday as four issuers ventured out with new bonds.

The long-awaited Shanghai-London Stock Connect is set for launch next year, a source at the London Stock Exchange has revealed.

The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has once again extended no-action relief to the Shanghai Clearing House, stating that it will not take action against it for not registering as a derivatives clearing organisation.