Europe

Government yields have risen rapidly this week, led by the US Treasury curve, as investors bet big on stimulus from that country. With little activity in the primary markets, bankers have been speculating on the possible effects of higher yields on issuers’ strategies.

There were flashbacks to last month’s Spanish syndication in the bond market this week as Italy made an emphatic start to the Draghi era in the BTP market. The borrower shed billions of orders on Tuesday after aggressively pricing its first syndication since the appointment of the ex-ECB chief as the country’s prime minister. Burhan Khadbai reports.

Two factors bear outsized influence on capital markets — Covid-19 and central bank stimulus. But the temptation to see these powerful forces culminating in one of two extreme outcomes — another crash as a feeble economy flounders, or a boom like the 1920s US — must be resisted.

This week was the busiest of the year so far for bank senior supply in euros, as issuers took advantage of strong market conditions after posting full year results.

If you want to be Europe’s leading global investment bank, you've got to have a leading role in the UK, the region's biggest fee pool. And that means having a strong corporate broking platform, writes David Rothnie.

Credit Suisse and Barclays reported full year results on Thursday that showed each expanding market share in key areas — in equity capital markets and M&A for Credit Suisse, and the markets business for Barclays.

If companies rushing to raise equity capital defined last year’s spring, what about this year’s March and April? Well, they could prove to be just as busy — for different, and more positive reasons. This year, companies are looking to raise capital from buoyant investors as they take advantage of the effect of Covid-19 vaccines and the reopening of economies. Aidan Gregory and Sam Kerr report.

Hamburger Hochbahn, the city public transport operator, made its bond market debut on Wednesday, slotting into the market neatly with a €500m 10 year green bond and a €3bn order book.

The depth of demand for financial institutional funding in the domestic Scandinavian currency markets was illustrated this week with a series of covered bonds and subordinated new issues.

WisdomeTree, an exchange traded fund provider, has launched a new ETF to track the performance of the bonds the European Union is issuing to fund its coronavirus recovery efforts.

Golden Ocean Group, the Burmuda-registered oil and dry bulk shipping company, has completed a Nkr2.87bn ($338.5m) capital raising backed by Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen.

HSBC Asset Management has partnered with HSBC UK to launch a direct lending platform, targeting smaller and mid-cap corporates.