KfW

The euro market will be tested quickly following the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday as the European Financial Stability Facility has sent out a request for proposals.

The first round of the French presidential election takes place this Sunday and, while the market is mostly quiet, Derek Halpenny, head of global markets research at MUFG, says that market participants have not priced in much risk of a shock anti-EU result.

A hotly contested battle for the French presidency has quieted much of the public sector market this week, but KfW has picked banks for a five year euro benchmark.

This week's funding scorecard looks at the progress European supranationals and agencies have made at the start of the second quarter.

The GC BondMarker scores for last week's benchmarks have been counted and market participants have deemed the European Financial Stability Facility's return to the long end a success.

Guarantor: Federal Republic of Germany

The dollar market was on spectacular form on Wednesday, with a Canadian province pushing out a rare 10 year bond, a supranational smashing its size record and a $4bn five year from a German agency.

German government-owned development bank KfW has entered into an agreement with Eurex Clearing that will see its euro denominated interest rate swaps cleared by the Frankfurt central counterparty.

Public sector borrowers are lining up a three pronged attack on Wednesday in a dollar market that is enjoying its widest swap spreads of the year. Quebec is attempting the first 10 year dollar benchmark since the first week of the year, KfW is out in fives — a part of the curve that has also become attractive in euros — and the Inter-American Development Bank is coming at the short end.

A higher than expected UK inflation rate led to a sell-off in Gilts this week, a move that may put an end to what has been a remarkable run of traffic in sterling SSA bond issuance.

The International Finance Corp could use the Kangaroo market to expand its burgeoning green bond programme.

The European Investment Bank and KfW on Wednesday tapped the long end amid an otherwise quiet euro market.