Middle East Bonds

Oman’s sovereign 2047s fell by as much as three cash points after Standard & Poor’s last Friday lowered the sultanate’s long term foreign currency credit rating to BB from BB+.

Saudi Arabian asset prices failed to bounce back this week after last weekend’s high profile arrests, even though wider emerging markets staged a late recovery.

Emirates NBD’s recent new issue has recovered some of the losses reported on Wednesday, though still remains below reoffer as emerging market debt bounces back after a tough couple of days.

Emirates Sembcorp Water & Power has named leads for its first deal, a $400m secured amortising note due 2035, and begins meetings on Thursday.

With political unease in Saudi Arabia contributing to increasing buy-side aversion to Middle Eastern credit, leading Dubai bank Emirates NBD paid a 5bp-10bp premium for its new five year note on Tuesday.

Emirates NBD turned heads with a new five year note offering 140bp area over mid-swaps on Tuesday. Investors said they were glad to take the extra spread on offer thanks to regional political tensions.

Saudi asset prices dropped on Monday after the arrest of senior officials on Saturday caught the market off guard, prompting a 2.2% fall in the Tadawul index and leaving investors nervously awaiting further developments.

Oman electrical distribution company Mazoon managed to print a $500m 10 year sukuk inside its sovereign’s curve on Wednesday as investors pounced on rare corporate JP Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index (EMBI) eligible paper from the Middle East.

Oman electrical distribution company Mazoon printed its $500m 10 year sukuk at the tight end of price guidance on Wednesday, with books hitting over $5bn for the note.

Oman electrical distribution company Mazoon has opened books on a 10 year sukuk with a chunky premium at mid to high 5%, leading to plenty of investor interest — despite the glut of Middle Eastern trades.

Standard Chartered Bank has relocated one of its DCM bankers to Dubai.

Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (Adcop) printed a $3.037bn dual tranche debut trade this week, with the quasi sovereign shrugging off background swings in rates to print tight to the Abu Dhabi curve.