The MTN market has had a tough year, as central bank support programmes and rampant public market issuance ate away at the volume done in private markets. Most notable was the 42% decline in bank issuance, which made up the majority of the year’s fall in MTN volume.

Italy returned to the private placement market to print one of the year’s largest MTNs on Thursday. The deal stood out this week, since issuance in the market has started to wind down ahead of Christmas.

Banks were busy issuing sub-benchmark sized deals in the euro public market last week, prompting several issuers to follow suit in the MTN market.

The Asian Development Bank made its first foray into the Pakistani rupee market this week, tapping a growing appetite for frontier currency-linked paper.

Issuers are winding down their funding programmes before the end of the year and several smaller SSAs have turned to MTNs to complete the little they have left to do. The big deals of the week, however, came from corporates, with Volkswagen and Eurogrid coming in at opposite ends of the curve.

A pipeline of deals is building in the Swiss franc bond market for when the US election is concluded. Among those circling the market is Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, which could finish its 2020 funding with a public benchmark.

Rising coronavirus cases and circling uncertainty around the upcoming US election is driving the Swedish krona market towards higher rated, domestic names.

A number of MTN investors are waiting for the result of the US election before committing themselves to the market, meaning next week is set to be a quiet one.

Focus was on the public market this week, with supranationals making up the majority of MTN supply.

Swedish krona SSA volumes are at a record high this year, spurred on by a handful of jumbo supranational deals sold at wider spreads during the second quarter. However, the market has since tightened, and bankers expect it to have a more muted end to 2020.

The Euro Short Term Rate (€STR) hit a record low on Wednesday as the latest round of TLTRO funding raised liquidity in the banking system. If €STR is to settle at this new low, it could impact commercial paper funds as investors withdraw in search of higher yields.

Belgium and Ireland both tapped the ultra-long end of the curve this week to continue a record breaking year for euro-denominated MTNs of 50 years or more, as insurers look for returns amid low rates.