Barclays

There was another scorching start to the year for eurozone sovereigns this week with yet more records dropping as Belgium took its largest ever number of orders and Austria sold its biggest ever deal from its largest ever book. But it was the nature of the successes — Belgium with a long dated trade and Austria the most expensive 10 year of the year so far — that really caught the eye.

Several public sector borrowers tapped the socially responsible investment (SRI) market this week, with more deals expected in February, before what many analysts expect will be a record year for the asset class.

Harley Davidson made heavy weather of strong US bond market conditions on Thursday after a dovish Fed and a month-long rally in spreads appeared to set the dollar market up for a strong run of issuance in February.

A quiet week for corporate bond issuance may have helped BMW Finance achieve tight pricing on Thursday, but selling its largest ever deal with new issue premiums in single digits was still an excellent outcome when compared to the premiums being paid at the start of the month.

The universities of Aberdeen and Leicester are marketing US private placements (US PP), it is understood, both of which willl be inaugural transactions.

L-Bank’s first dollar benchmark of the year was in keeping with a trend in the currency so far this year for oversubscribed deals with low concessions, as leads calculated a 1bp new issue premium for the deal.

Nederlandse Waterschapsbank was over three times covered for a 10 year affordable housing bond on Wednesday, allowing it to tighten multiple times during pricing to leave no concession, according to on-looking bankers. Meanwhile, the State of North Rhine-Westphalia has appointed banks to arrange a roadshow in Europe and Asia for a long dated euro sustainability bond.

The day after the UK government mandated Teresa May to go to Brussels and renegotiate the country’s exit agreement with the European Union, the UK electricity transmission company National Grid tested investors’ appetites for UK assets and found a host of willing buyers without having to offer much of a premium.

Are Asian investors ready to embrace duration again? Oil India and Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) proved there is clear demand, rolling out a pair of 10 year bonds on Tuesday. SCB also added a five year tranche.

Indonesian power company Lestari Banten Energi priced a $775m project bond on Tuesday, sealing the first such Asian deal of the year after months of preparation.

Kommunalbanken took advantage of being the sole SSA issuer in dollars on Tuesday as it was more than twice subscribed and tightened pricing on its first dollar benchmark of the year. Concerns over volatility from this week’s US Federal Open Market Committee meeting and non-farm payrolls kept some other issuers on the sidelines, said SSA bankers — although two are braving Wednesday’s market.

Austria's 10 year syndication on Tuesday received a final order book that was almost twice the size of its previous record volume. Belgium was also in the market with its second OLO of the year, opting this time for a much longer maturity. Both deals were in keeping with eurozone sovereign supply this year, comfortably printing a combined €10bn from over €55bn of orders.