Crédit Agricole

Eni saw chunky demand for the first Italian corporate bond sold since the coronavirus pandemic hit markets in March, but it had to pay up over its curve compered to oil industry peers from outside Italy.

The lure of prestigious, fee-paying Bund syndications has driven banks to up their bids in Germany’s auctions, driving up the bid to cover ratio on its auctions and bringing down the sovereign’s cost of funds.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is preparing to issue a global sustainable development bond as early as next week to finance its newly created Crisis Recovery Facility aimed at mitigating the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Eni, the oil and gas company, became the first Italian corporate to open books on a syndicated bond since the coronavirus pandemic sent markets went haywire in March, as syndicate bankers say issuance levels will ramp up sharply in the coming days.

French car maker Peugeot, rated on the lowest rung of investment grade, amassed €2.3bn of demand for a bond issue on Thursday, enabling it to raise €1bn, after crossover credit Nokia’s success selling debt earlier in the week made it clear that there is demand for issuers with trickier stories.

Issuance in the financial institutions bond market had a preferred senior flavour this week, with issuers finding this the most cost-effective funding compared with other asset classes. In addition, some of them can use it to fulfil regulatory requirements.

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Germany smashed its return to the syndicated bond market on Wednesday with its biggest ever order book and deal in the format, which was priced flat to fair value at the final spread, according to the leads.

Since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, Finland has found a novel way to meet its increased funding needs: private placements. Over the last six weeks, the sovereign has supplemented its regular auctions with €5.65bn of privately placed trades, issuing private debt off its benchmark bond programme for the first time ever.

Germany has picked the banks that will run its first syndicated transaction since 2015 and its first 15 year bond. The sovereign will likely make its market return on Wednesday. The trade forms part of Germany's updated strategy for its colossal funding programme financing the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Qatar National Bank issued its third bond of the year on Tuesday, pulling in $3.5bn of orders by the time it released guidance for a five year deal that affirmed the market access for the top tier names in emerging markets.

A bevy of high grade corporate bonds hit screens on Tuesday, as Europe’s syndicate bankers said that “no one cares” about the German Constitutional Court verdict throwing into question the Bundesbank's ability to take part in the eurozone's quantitative easing.