Euro

Spain rode out another volatile day in eurozone government bonds on Wednesday to finish up with a healthy €5bn of 15 year paper from an order book nearly treble that size.

In its bid to, as one SSA syndicate official put it, "erase the ghosts" of its last visit to the far end of the euro curve, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) has spooked what had been a supportive market with its second shocker in as many attempts, writes Lewis McLellan.

Bpifrance Financement became this week’s third French public sector issuer on Thursday, scoring €500m with a tap.

Jeanswear maker Levi Strauss priced on Thursday a new refinancing deal in euros, having been absent from the European high yield bond market for seven years.

US pharma research firm Quintiles IMS Holdings printed on Thursday a new €1.4bn high yield bond, proving that European high yield investors are embracing the train of US issuers printing in euros.

Barclays showed some quality on Thursday, beating the Street’s estimates on capital and profit after extraordinary charges. The bank rode the wave of surging trade volumes in the fourth quarter and a strengthening dollar, but investment banking outperformed as well. Best of all, for its bankers, the firm said it was bringing forward bonus payments.

Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations (CDC) picked a tricky week for its first euro syndication in many years but, thanks to the deal’s green aspect, the trade went off without a hitch.

Spain rode out another volatile day in eurozone government bonds to finish up with a healthy €5bn of 15 year paper from an order book nearly treble that size.

In spite of the spread between OATs and Bunds reaching a four year high, two French public sector issuers chose to come to market this week, hoping the market would be stable. It’s no longer enough for issuers to sit on their hands waiting for calm — it’s about braving possible volatility and funding when you can.

Spain is set to bring its second benchmark of the year after mandating banks on Tuesday, as the country enjoys a spell of stability compared to some of its eurozone peers and a market that appears to be calming after a volatile start to the week.

French issuers appear unfazed by political turbulence afflicting their sovereign's curve, with two borrowers in the market this week. Meanwhile, the European Financial Stability Facility sold its largest deal tranche in over 2.5 years.

A large write-down in European private banking left HSBC nursing a heavy quarterly loss at the end of 2016, despite a strong performance in global banking and markets and trading profit that nearly doubled.