Northeast Asia

ESR Cayman sealed a $100m perpetual non-call three year on Wednesday, but the market remained a tad soft with investors being defensive when it came to risky names.

Investors threw their weight behind two IPOs in Asia this week, with WuXi Biologics set to price at the top of expectations in Hong Kong and Singapore’s HRnetGroup getting covered across the range.

Chinese automotive component supplier Xin Point Holdings started pre-marketing its Hong Kong IPO this week, and is eyeing up to $150m after getting a recent boost in confidence, according to a source close to the deal.

Hong Kong’s IPO market is awaiting jumbo deals from two Chinese state-owned enterprises this year, with Sinopec Marketing Co and China Tower seeking $10bn each. Both transactions are must-haves for ECM houses in the region, but getting a spot on the syndicate will be no easy feat. Jonathan Breen reports.

The offshore renminbi (CNH) reached its strongest point against the dollar since the start of the year on Thursday, despite China’s sovereign rating downgrade last week. Analysts say the sharp turn reflects Chinese regulators’ determination to keep the currency from falling ahead of renewed pressure from external factors.

WuXi Biologics is set to price its HK$3.9bn ($510.4m) IPO at the top of expectations following a blockbuster response from investors.

DBS Group Holdings and HSBC Holdings are wooing debt investors, with the former seeking a dollar senior deal, and the latter a Singapore dollar perpetual. The Export-Import Bank of China (Chexim) is also collecting bids for its fundraising.

Public sector borrowers are aiming for the short end of the dollar curve, as swap spreads in the area hover around the spot in which they started 2017, having dropped sharply from the year’s highs hit in March.

The People's Bank of China published the blueprint of the upcoming Bond Connect scheme on Wednesday, and has asked the public for feedback by June 7. The provisional rules shed light on themes including FX and hedging.

The Export-Import Bank of China (Chexim) is set to hold investor calls for a euro fixed rate five year bond and a dollar floating rate three year. India’s Canara Bank, meanwhile, will meet accounts in Asia and Europe for its first dollar outing since 2013.

Chinese automotive component supplier Xin Point Holdings has begun investor education for its Hong Kong IPO and, after an early boost of confidence, is eyeing up to $150m, according to a source close to the deal.

There was little understanding among market watchers to news that the Chinese central bank is planning to introduce a counter-cyclical component to the calculation of the daily fix of the onshore RMB (CNY). Analysts say the move contradicts earlier statements from the PBoC about giving markets more say in the exchange rate.