JP Morgan

The equity block trade market is heating up in Hong Kong as shares continue to rally, with banks launching one sole mandate after another.

A combined €48bn of cash swelled the orderbooks for Italy and Portugal’s deals on Wednesday, dispelling any fears that the reduction of the European Central Bank’s quantitative easing programme would hamper demand.

The Inter-American Development Bank provided further proof on Wednesday that there is deep demand at the five year part of the dollar curve — but another supranational is stepping up to test the long end of the currency for the first time this year.

On Tuesday multi-tranche and green bond issuance returned to the investment grade corporate bond market, leaving just the hybrid asset class untouched in 2018. That didn’t last long, as Engie and Aroundtown launched new hybrid deals on Wednesday morning, one of which set new lows for the product's coupon and spread levels.

Oman has hit the screens with a copycat trade of its 2017 triple tranche $5bn note, navigating a more volatile market than it may have hoped for after a back-up in US Treasuries on Tuesday.

Dollar investors had plenty of Chinese property bonds to choose from this week, with four issuers competing for their attention on Tuesday. But with no end in sight to the pipeline, companies will have to navigate the market carefully, or cough up a premium for their bonds.

PhosAgro, a Russian phosphate-based fertiliser company, is embarking on a series of investor meetings to market a five to seven year dollar bond.

The euro market is providing borrowers with superb execution — KfW gathered its largest ever book for a 10 year on Tuesday — but investors are requiring healthy new issue concessions in order to commit.

January’s impressive pipeline of sovereign issuance is starting to unload, as Italy and Portugal hit screens on Tuesday for their first syndications of the year.

Italian electricity supplier Enel sold its second green bond on Tuesday, repeating the timing of its first such offering in 2017, which it also sold in the second week of the year. The latest deal was the same size, but priced tighter and won a larger order book, despite printing with a longer maturity.

Kuwait could become the latest Gulf Corporation Council sovereign to issue 30 year debt after its parliament approved a bill allowing the government to raise its borrowing ceiling to KD25bn ($83bn), and to issue international debt out to 30 years.

Property companies Country Garden Holdings Co (CoGard), Times Property Holdings, Tahoe Group Co and Wharf Real Estate Investment Company hit the dollar debt market in force on Tuesday.