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One of the most covered aspects of the bond market by more mainstream media in recent months has been the value of triple-B rated corporate debt due to mature in coming years and what problems that might cause in the event of an economic downturn. However, this has prompted investors to start to quell any fears of these risks.

Uzbekistan's bond market debut, which is expected to be priced as early as Wednesday, has captured the attention of emerging market investors.

On Tuesday, Swedish telecoms company Telia sold the longest maturity corporate bond deal of 2019 so far. Telia had not been to the market for nearly two years, but has a history of long-dated issuance.

Credit Bank of Moscow has tightened price guidance for its euro five year bond, with books in excess of €800m for the Reg S/144A note — an unusual format for a euro deal, but one designed to provide a fall back option of switching to dollars if pricing for the bank’s inaugural euro bond was deemed unfavourable after feedback.

Uzbekistan has told investors that it is focused on a dual tranche five and 10 year transaction and that indications of interest received so far are in excess of $1.5bn.

US tobacco group Altria on Monday ended a blackout-blighted slow start to February for the euro corporate bond market when it brought a new deal that included four benchmark tranches. This came the day before the company sold $11.5bn in its home market.

Blackstone Property Partners Europe on Friday made its third visit to the corporate bond market in eight months and opted for a maturity between its two outstanding bonds. The property fund has now printed €1.75bn of bonds since it sold its Logicor logistics business to China Investment Corp in June 2017.

Robert Horat, managing director of the Zurich-based Pfandbriefbank schweizerischer Hypothekarinstitute, says he is mystified as to why the pooling model underpinning Swiss Pfandbriefe has not been used as a blueprint for covered bond markets elsewhere in Europe.

The roadshow for Uzbekistan’s debut dollar denominated 144A/Reg S benchmark started this week, but with only two of the three international banks originally picked for the mandate still present on it.

The dollar issuance calendar continued to smoulder with a handful of borrowers enjoying bulging order books and pricing leverage as investors continued to return in force to high-grade credit. With corporate earnings still acting as a handbrake and the Chinese New Year further dampening activity, supply was steady rather than spectacular.

Green bond issuance has been in hot demand so far this year, with investors allocating ever greater sums to sustainable and ethical mandates. However, it is not just the green labels on deals that are affecting investment decisions.

On Thursday, Imperial Brands bucked the recent trend of ethical and sustainable corporate bond issuance, but found plenty of demand for its latest deal. The UK tobacco group had not accessed the bond market for more than two years.