Norway

Belgium has picked banks for a seven year benchmark, publishing the mandate just after joining the throng of sovereigns upping their funding requirements. Norway has also raised the size of its borrowing programme.

The Norwegian government’s support package for large companies goes beyond that announced in other jurisdictions, in actively buying bonds from companies deep in sub-investment grade territory, helping the country's vital oil exploration, shipping and oil services firms to access financing.

The Nordic region’s credit markets are experiencing something of a lockdown as the spread of Covid-19 lead to dozens of fund providers halting withdrawals last week and the effective closure of the primary market due to a shortage of liquidity.

The recent fall in the price of oil is having a knock-on effect on non-core currency issuance. While oil dependent markets could take a hit as their currencies weaken, some net importers could benefit from a stronger currency and safe haven flows.

Shares in Norwegian Air Shuttle, the Norwegian airline, fell more than 25% on Friday morning after the company scrapped its profit guidance for 2020 because of the mounting economic damage caused by the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus.

It was a mixed picture in the dollar public sector bond market on Thursday. A Norwegian agency was able to tighten the spread of its five year fixed rate trade on the back of a well subscribed order book. But a supranational was not able to achieve the same momentum for an intraday three year Sofr-linked floating rate note.

Eika Boligkreditt this week placed the most deeply negative yielding non-German covered bond since credit market volatility spiked two weeks ago. The deal, issued on Thursday, will help participants gauge just how far spreads have moved, setting the market up for more active issuance in March when demand is expected to materialise on the back of a considerable widening in the Bund/swap spread.

The first scorecard of 2020 looks at the progress Nordic agencies have made in their funding programmes at the start of March.

Executives working on the $411m resale of Teekay Offshore Partners bonds by Brookfield, the Canadian asset manager, have slowed their work on the deal this week as high yield market conditions worsened amid growing concern about the coronavirus outbreak.

Trading levels given are bid-side spreads versus mid-swaps and/or an underlying benchmark and bid-yields from the close of business on Monday, February 24. The source for secondary trading levels is ICE Data Services.

Three banks seized a favourable backdrop in the bond market to sell senior bonds this week, finding a warm welcome for maturities from three to six years.

BW Energy, the oil exploration and production company, has priced its Oslo IPO after lowering its valuation target and shrinking the deal, having encountered resistance from investors as the coronavirus outbreak in China knocked 20% off the oil price.