JP Morgan

A lack of five year dollar supply and an acceptance that since the summer issuers need to offer a bit more juice helped a pair of supranationals launch strong trades this week. Other supras are rumoured to be considering follow-on deals next week, although some bankers warn that investor appetite may be sated for the moment, and everything could hinge on how a sharp US Treasury move late on Thursday plays out.

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The dollar high grade bond market returned to barnstorming form this week following the summer break with a Who’s Who of corporate America tapping the market.

The European high yield bond market returned from its summer break to €3bn of new bond offerings this week, including notes from Delaware’s Kronos International and California’s Equinix.

Agence Française de Développement stormed back into the dollar market on Thursday, printing its largest trade in the currency in six years with a comfortable oversubscription and tightened pricing. The deal put to rest AFD’s pulled dollar trade in February, said bankers.

Telefónica printed the largest single tranche of the day on Tuesday, with a €1.25bn deal with a January 2028 maturity. Despite competing with three other corporate bond deals in the euro market, the deal built a €3bn order book and was printed with a single digit new issue premium.

September’s expected busy calendar of equity-linked issues in Europe made further progress this week, when Qiagen and Capital Stage sold unusually structured bonds, both of which achieved strong books and priced within their ranges — with no sign of market congestion yet.

On Wednesday, Spanish electricity utility Iberdrola became the third corporate issuer in a week to print a green bond in euros. The €750m 10 year deal took the total corporate green bonds issued since the summer break to €1.95bn.

Inter-American Development Bank won a big reception on Thursday as it completed its benchmark funding for the year with a five year dollar global that rode on the coattails of a similar trade by Asian Development Bank a day earlier. Agence Française de Développement also made a triumphant return to dollars after a pulled trade in February, as it matched its largest ever deal in the currency for size.

Asian equity capital markets jolted back into life this week, with a handful of overnight blocks signalling the end of the summer lull during the constant furore on the Korean peninsula. Despite the uncertainty, bankers predict equity markets will absorb the noise and battle through. Jonathan Breen reports.

Chinese logistics firm Best hit the road on Thursday to start drumming up demand for its $931.5m IPO of American depositary shares (ADS).

Shandong-based Weichai Power Co became the sole G3 bond issuer to hit the debt market on Thursday, marketing a senior dollar perpetual deal to help repay acquisition-related loans.