Euro

Italy faced an auction test on Thursday morning and came out with a result that traders said “wasn’t that bad”, despite the political uncertainty facing the country.

German construction firm Hochtief opted for a €500m no-grow deal when it came to market for the first time as a rated company this week. The company gained a BBB rating from Standard & Poor’s in May 2017.

Two German issuers sold corporate bonds on Tuesday and on Thursday, mobile phone operator O2 Telefónica Deutschland made it a German treble the following day.

Spain, fresh from its success with a 10 year benchmark on Tuesday, is eyeing a return to the long end of the syndicated inflation linker market towards the end of the year.

Germany’s largest residential real estate company, Vonovia, took its total bond issuance year to date to €3.6bn after announcing a €500m no-grow five year deal as it continued to fund its M&A activity.

British oil and gas company BP returned to the European corporate bond markets on Thursday for the first time in a year. Two euro tranches came 12 months after the company’s last euro offering, and a sterling tranche was its first in its domestic currency since August 2016.

British oil and gas company BP returned to the European corporate bond markets on Thursday for the first time in a year. Two euro tranches came twelve months after the company’s last euro offering, and a sterling tranche was its first in its domestic currency since August 2016.

Two German issuers sold corporate bonds on Tuesday and, after a day many Germans may want to forget on Wednesday, mobile phone operator O2 Telefónica Deutschland made it a German treble the following day.

A green bond and a conventional bond both hit the euro market on Wednesday. While neither aimed for size, the pricing action showed much hotter demand for the green offering.

After two successful new corporate bond issues on Tuesday, market participants were hopeful of more supply on Wednesday. However, the optimism caused by Wall Street was extinguished as Asian markets tumbled overnight.

Public sector issuers have streamed back into the primary market in euros after being kept away by weeks of volatility. This week is already the second busiest of the year for the sector, but investors are starting to focus on where interest rates are headed.

European corporate bond markets enjoyed one of the busiest weeks of the year last week, but global economic factors mean investors are far from ready to buy everything in sight just yet.