Northeast Asia

Asian debt borrowers were able to skirt market volatility for much of last week, selling more than $9bn of bonds. But the market slump hit Asia hard as the week drew to a close and the jitters continued on Monday morning.

In this round-up, the growth of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) infections outside China outpaced that reported by the country, Chinese regulators announced more loosening policies and the trade of wild animals for consumption is banned in the Mainland.

In this round-up, the sell-off in equities continues to worsen as Covid-19 spreads, Hong Kong’s financial secretary forecasted a budget deficit of HK$139.1bn for the 2020-21 fiscal year, and China’s January non-financial outbound investment dropped by 9.5% in US dollar terms.

Independent television producer China Bright Culture Group has launched bookbuilding for its IPO, aiming to raise up to HK$1.35bn ($172.9m).

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co netted $400m from its bond sale on Thursday, as the market battled falling sentiment.

Three Chinese real estate developers braved a volatile market on Thursday, raising $800m as fears around the coronavirus continued to ravage secondary prices.

Hengan International, a Hong Kong-listed Chinese producer of sanitary napkins and baby diapers, sold the first coronavirus-linked Panda bond on Friday. The red-chip issuer will spend 13% of the proceeds for the cause.

Workers of the world’s capital markets united this week in efforts to keep the funding flowing as the threat of the Covid-19 coronavirus advances. Roadshows, mandate pitches and even quotidian office life faced emergency changes as embattled financiers braced themselves and their businesses for virus disruption.

Market participants should be braced for political volatility as the world comes close to experiencing a pandemic.

Chinese brokerage Shenwan Hongyuan Securities is out for a one-year bridge loan, seeking HK$3bn ($385m) for its international loan market debut.

“What's in a name?” wrote Shakespeare. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” A banker tried applying a similar philosophy last week. It wasn’t quite so poetic.

Perpetual tenors were in favour this week as four borrowers from Greater China sealed perps in a yield-hungry environment.