Currencies

Bpifrance rode a wave of booming market sentiment following a dovish US Federal Reserve meeting on Thursday to sell its joint largest ever single issue, after originally aiming for a minimum size that was just a third of the amount it ended up printing.

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.

Chinese automobile retailer Zhejiang Geely Holding Group has returned for a €1.4bn dual-tranche facility to refinance a bridge loan raised last year for its purchase of a share in Swedish truck maker AB Volvo.

Belgium will begin increasing the size of its €4.5bn April 2033 Green OLO through multiple auctions in 2019.

Power Grid Corporation of India has broken a seven-year absence from the international loan market to target Japanese liquidity for a ¥22bn ($201m) Samurai 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.

Investors have come out in huge numbers to buy the three corporate hybrid deals that have been sold so far in 2019. However, the excess demand is unlikely to be sated as the year unfolds.

KfW brought yet another record breaking trade to the SSA market in 2019, printing a five year euro benchmark whose order book volume was an all-time high for the issuer.

Greece has cash. It didn’t need to take €2.5bn of five year bond funding from the capital markets on Tuesday. But the deal was a good tactic to demonstrate that it has access to new capital, which will ultimately push down its borrowing costs and push up its credit ratings. It worked for Portugal, so why not Greece?

Greece’s highly anticipated return to the public bond markets on Tuesday met with a strong reception from investors. With up to €4.5bn more of benchmark bonds to issue in 2019, Greece is expected to return to the markets for a second syndication this year, which bankers say could be in the 10 year part of the curve. Cyprus will look to follow up on Greece’s success after setting out plans to roadshow a euro transaction in February.

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.

Telefónica received overwhelming demand for its debut green bond on Monday with more than €5.4bn of orders, but unfulfilled investors were left with a blank new issue screen on Tuesday as corporate bond issuers move into reporting season. However, it has been one of the busiest Januaries on record.