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The new-look Fox Corp made its dollar bond debut this week as the technical backdrop in the investment grade continued to improve with tightening spreads and thinner new issue concessions.

The US Senate on Wednesday rejected legislation that would keep sanctions on companies linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, including aluminium firm and bond issuer Rusal and London-listed energy company En+. Although many investors and bankers are hailing this as a victory for Russia that could reopen the international capital markets for its issuers, others are concerned that it makes further US sanctions against other Russian entities more likely. Francesca Young and Sam Kerr report.

A year on from selling its first green hybrid bond, French energy company Engie returned to sell another with a slightly longer call date. Demand for the product has remained strong, but the difference in coupons showed how pricing has changed despite the borrower paying virtually no premium over the company’s secondary bonds.

Despite the furore around the UK government’s defeat in getting its Brexit deal approved on Tuesday evening, corporate bond investors are yet to join the panic and remain open to buying new issues.

With many of Europe’s emerging market bankers and investors this week in Vienna for Euromoney’s annual Central and Eastern Europe Conference, much focus has been on planning for the year ahead in this region. The mood at that conference is one of quiet optimism for the year ahead.

Dubai Islamic Bank finishes the roadshow for its additional tier one bond on Wednesday. The market is eagerly awaiting pricing details and though no call has yet been confirmed, bankers and investors are expecting the bank to redeem its outstanding tier one in March.

First Abu Dhabi Bank’s five year sukuk benchmark, which has raised a book of $2bn so far, is prompting renewed discussion over fair representation of joint lead manager interest in Middle East bonds.

On Tuesday, the European corporate bond market paused to watch the developments around the UK parliament’s meaningful vote on the Brexit deal put forward by the government. But bankers are confident the market won't stop for long.

UK housing associations are regular and popular users of the sterling corporate bond market. Friday saw the first deal of 2019 from the UK’s largest housing association and the deal proved demand had in no way waned.

On Monday, the US deliveries group FedEx returned to the euro corporate bond market for the first time since its debut visit in 2016 when it raised €3bn to finance its purchase of Dutch peer TNT Express. That deal was a four-tranche combination, but its latest deal was just a €500m 3.5 year deal to refinance the shortest tranche of the debut deal.

On Friday, American data centre owner Digital Realty sold the first green corporate bond in euros of 2019, but investors did not have long to wait for the second one as Italian energy company Enel also chose to issue in the format.

French construction and concessions group Vinci on Friday sold its first corporate bond since announcing it had agreed to acquire a majority shareholding in Gatwick airport. It was the issuer’s second public bond issue in three months after more than five years without one.