North America

The SSA market on Thursday was digesting the result of the previous night's Federal Reserve meeting. Fed chair Jerome Powell took a dovish stance in spite of high economic growth and some market participants believe that the strengthening inflation outlook could hurt demand for bonds at the long end of the curve.

Verizon Communications, the US telecoms group, embarked on an almost $3bn niche currency bond issuing spree this week, which included the largest foreign Swiss franc bond since early 2018.

More US companies are rushing to take advantage of rising share prices by issuing convertible bonds, including Ford Motor Co, which is bringing a giant $2bn deal.

Chinese video sharing and gaming platform Bilibili is set to launch its Hong Kong secondary offering this week, after winning listing approval from the city’s bourse.

Smart Share Global is drumming up interest in its Nasdaq IPO, which is expected to hit the market in late March, according to a source close to the trade.

Fitch downgraded Mexican broadcaster TV Azteca from C to restricted default (RD) on Friday after the 30 day grace period expired on a missed coupon payment. The rating agency is forecasting recoveries for bondholders in the 31%-50% range.

China’s Tuya, an internet-of-things cloud platform provider, has kicked off the roadshow for its US listing. It is aiming to raise up to $871.8m.

Former Olympic gymnast and billionaire entrepreneur Li Ning, founder of sportswear brand Li-Ning, has set up a blank cheque firm targeting the Chinese consumer sector.

Chinese internet giant Baidu has met with a rapid flood of early demand for its Hong Kong secondary offering, which is expected to raise around $3bn.

Any fears about the resilience of the US corporate bond market were set aside on Thursday when Verizon Communications amassed a $115bn orderbook and printed one of the biggest deals of the year.

A selloff of growth stocks and primary market indigestion have taken some of the steam out of the booming US convertible bond market, but it remains open to new issuers.

L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp has bagged $250m from its Nasdaq IPO, as it becomes the latest special purpose acquisition company (Spac) focused on Asia to list in the US.