HSBC

While European Central Bank president Mario Draghi kept firmly to his course of accommodative monetary policy at Thursday’s press conference, the euro strengthened further against the dollar, dragging Bund yields up with it. Lewis McLellan reports.

US high-grade corporates began to emerge from earnings blackout but few are predicting the usual flood of bond issuance as fears over rising inflation and the impact of tax reform could keep borrowers on the sidelines.

Nordex, a German wind turbine manufacturer, began selling a €275m high yield bond this week as it plans to extend its debt maturities by taking out shorter-dated and floating rate Schuldschein paper.

Italian tyre company Pirelli returned to the bond market on Monday for the first time since its IPO. With no other investment grade deals in the market, the new five year transaction enjoyed strong investor demand and 40bp of tightening from initial price thoughts.

SNCF Réseau has hit screens for a 30 year bond to be sold this Friday. The borrower announced the mandate just after the completion of the European Central Bank's governing council meeting press conference on Thursday.

Equity investors seem to be shrugging off the geopolitical tension surrounding Turkey, which is fortunate for a pipeline of Turkish IPOs, but there are risks if relations with the US worsen further, writes Sam Kerr.

The Republic of Indonesia is meeting investors around the world to market what will be Asia's first sovereign green debt sale.

French video game publisher Ubisoft Entertainment sold its first corporate bond on Thursday following a roadshow earlier in the week. The meetings in Paris, London and Germany helped the publisher of games including Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance build a whole new following.

Chinese state-owned Beijing Capital Group used a tried-and-tested approach for its bond return, replicating the structure of its debut deal a year ago. But its trade impressed nevertheless, priced with a negative new issue concession.

Former Citi credit trader James Duffy will be joining HSBC in London to trade financials single name credit default swaps.

Corporate bond investors were treated to a relative feast of issuance on Wednesday following a meagre €850m of supply in the first two days of the week. A trio of higher beta names offered a variety of tenors and spreads for investors to choose from.

Dubai Islamic Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the UAE by total asset size, has mandated eight banks for a five year senior dollar sukuk. The deal could be the first bank bond from the Gulf Cooperation Council so far this year.