Canada

The European Investment Bank achieved its biggest ever order book in euros on Tuesday, as it sold its first seven year benchmark of the year.

A trio of Wall Street heavyweights tapped the dollar market in size this week, with investors pouring cash into new deals.

Canadian banks should be applauded for funding themselves in public with deals bought by real investors in a range of currencies at actual market clearing levels — astonishing though that may be for the many entitled European issuers that have shamelessly become accustomed to central bank funding.

The prices of Western Canada Select and West Texas Intermediate dropped below zero during trading on Monday, spelling trouble for issuers in the already underperforming Norwegian krone and Canadian dollar.

CPPIB Capital, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, dived into the long end of the sterling bond market on Monday for a bumper follow-up to January’s jumbo debut.

High quality Yankee issuers showed their spirit of adventure by printing front-end trades this week, returning to a part of the curve that has been starved of supply since the start of the coronavirus crisis.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Tuesday, April 14. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

Royal Bank of Canada on Wednesday became the fourth Canadian bank to issue an Australian dollar covered bond in April, pricing considerably tighter than its compatriots and in the largest size yet. The success the Canadians have enjoyed in Kangaroos is in stark contrast to a sterile sterling market.

The Province of Alberta is preparing for a bigger borrowing programme to counter the impact of the global oil crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.

Bank of Nova Scotia was set to price a €1.25bn three year covered bond tap 25bp wider than indicative secondary levels on Thursday, its third foray in euros this year and the 19th Canadian covered bond to be issued globally in 2020. The deals are in keeping with an exceptional volume of cheaply priced Canadian public ssector bond issuance and highlight a unique set of challenges for the country's borrowers, related to sinking oil prices, an inflexible central bank and the impact of Covid-19.

Agence Française de Développement (AFD) was the latest public sector agency to head to the euro market this week as it raised €1.5bn on Wednesday with a 10 year benchmark. While the deal was fully subscribed, the order book was not huge and the pricing did not tighten from guidance, indicating that the market may be slowing.

Infrequent issuers are slowly returning to the Swiss franc market. During the past week, Eurofima brought its first Swissies deal in six years, while biotech firm Lonza printed its first bond in any currency since 2017.