Euro

The Province of Alberta printed its first ever euro bond on Wednesday, opting to follow its compatriot Ontario in attacking the sweet spot for investors at seven years.

The investment grade corporate euro bond market had shown a steady return to strength after Easter, but Thursday's five-deal spree tested its resolve . The market last saw that many deals on March 15 – a day described by one syndicate banker as a repricing point.

Vehicle makers and their finance arms continued their recent dominance of Europe’s investment grade corporate bond market. Renault, Volkswagen-owned Scania and Peugeot’s joint venture with Santander, PSA Banque, all priced deals on the same day this week, after three issues from their German peers in the previous seven days.

The investment grade corporate bond market has seen a “steady and sensible” start to April according to one investor as it attempts to stabilise following a volatile run through February and March.

Despite the political risk surrounding the formation of the Italian government, one asset manager believes its debt is better value than that of some of its peers in the peripheral Europe.

Bank of China has priced bonds denominated in US dollars, euros and Australian dollars worth $3bn-equivalent, with another two tranches in New Zealand dollars set to be priced on Wednesday. The deal, sold under different branches of the bank, reflects the relentless bid for floating rate notes (FRNs).

A trio of euro borrowers picked up a combined €8.5bn on Tuesday, seemingly without testing the limits of demand in the market.

Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings tested the appetite of the euro corporate bond market with a dual tranche deal, which included the first tranche longer than 10 years to be issued in nearly four weeks.

The two borrowers that closed out the first quarter with benchmarks have now been examined by the BondMarker voters.

The euro market is back in gear after a few weeks of slow issuance. Three borrowers have mandated deals for Tuesday’s session but one opted for a one day execution, coming on Monday to get ahead of the rush.

Peking University Founder Group Co, BOC Aviation and Yuexiu Property Co are meeting investors for their upcoming bond plans, while China National Chemical Corp’s Swiss subsidiary Syngenta is also gearing up for a mega deal.

As negotiations over the future of Italy’s government begin in earnest, investors appear to be betting that political risk for the country has been overestimated.