Euro

One of the three major Portuguese football clubs has announced plans to sell a new corporate bond. Sporting Lisbon is set to refinance its borrowing for a third time, having sold its first issue in 2008. However, the club has been through a particularly troublesome period on and off the pitch.

Rating: B2/—/B+

The European Central Bank made clear on Thursday that it will not be Italy’s doting aunt to the European Commission’s disciplinarian parent after the latter dumped the sovereign on the naughty step by rejecting its budget plans this week. Some investors warned that while Italy’s problems are contained for now, further antagonism between Rome and the eurozone’s authorities raises the risk of a junk rating for Italy and contagion to other markets.

The hefty chunk of SRI bond supply from the public sector in the second half of the year shows no signs of slowing down, with plenty in the pipeline — including from a debut issuer.

Tunisia raised €500m of five year paper on Wednesday with a 144A/Reg S benchmark.

The Flemish Community of Belgium will meet investors in November to showcase its new sustainability bond framework, with a trade likely to follow.

The Central Bank of Tunisia, on behalf of the sovereign, hit the market on Wednesday morning to print a five year euro benchmark.

Some investors are betting that Italian government bonds have suffered their worst losses and are hoping S&P will not downgrade the sovereign to junk at the end of this week. That is despite a spat between the Italian government and the European Commission over the former’s budget plans which saw the latter reject an EU member's budget proposal for the first time ever this week.

Italian government bonds took a hit on Tuesday after the European Commission asked the country to send a revised draft of its budget plans. But yields stayed below the 2018 peaks they hit late last week when investors feared that Moody’s could downgrade the sovereign to junk.

Indonesia state-owned electricity company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN) priced its first deal as a fully investment grade rated issuer on Thursday, tapping not only the dollar market but also euros for the first time.

The Republic of Tunisia hit screens on Thursday, announcing a roadshow to promote a euro benchmark — the nation’s first since February 2017.

A three times subscribed deal by KfW this week showed that there is plenty of green demand for issuers looking to print in the format in the remainder of the year, as a fellow German agency moved forward with plans to bring a trade.