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Euro had its quietest day for some time as last week drew to an end. But some healthy volumes were done and maturities were towards the long-end. Lafarge did a seven-year euro1 billion ($898.19 million) MTN. The note was part of a two-tranche euro and sterling denominated bond totalling euro1.4 billion. The note pays a final coupon of 4.125%. ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, HSBC and JPMorgan all lead-managed the trade. Suncorp-Metway closed a two-year euro250 million note via Merrill Lynch and UBS Warburg. The note carries a final coupon of 3m Euribor +20bp. SPVs were busy issuing. CSFB's BOATS Investments (Netherlands) did a euro60.07 million note that reaches out to December 2 2040. The note pays interest on a monthly basis. Lehman Brothers financial repackaged vehicle, Anthracite Rated Investments (Cayman), did a 12-year euro20 million MTN. And Deutsche Bank's Parkland Finance closed a euro13 million note that matures on December 15 2008. Also closing were CSFB (euro50 million), Societe Generale Acceptance (euro10 million) and BAWAG (euro5 million).

Euro trading picked up from Friday's lull as 17 notes were issued for $632.56 million. French issuers dominated proceedings with eight of the trades. Caisse Centrale du Credit Immobilier de France closed a euro10 million ($9.05 million) note via BNP Paribas. The note pays interest annually and is linked to the Nikkei225 index. BNP Paribas also lead-managed a euro1 million note for Credit Lyonnais Finance (Guernsey) that matures on November 2 2002. Credit Lyonnais did another trade - a euro3.50 million note which was self-led. The note was linked to the Euro Stoxx50 and matures on February 8 2002. BNP Paribas was also busy issuing notes. It closed a euro60 million note that matures on January 31 2006 and a euro15.63 million note that goes out to November 24 2014. Societe Generale Acceptance added to the spate of French trades with three notes for euro27.47 million combined. Westdeutsche Landesbank (London) led a six-year euro10 million note for SNS Bank Nederland. The plain vanilla MTN carries an annual coupon of 4.500%. Caterpillar International Finance did a two-year euro200 million MTN that has a quarterly interest payment. DePfa-Bank Europe also looked for volume, closing a euro300 million note that matures on March 1 2004. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria's financial repackaged vehicle, Atlanteo Capital, did the longest-dated trade - a euro3.28 million note that reaches out to September 25 2031.

The US Treasury's shock announcement on Wednesday that it plans no further 30 year auctions sent investors scrabbling for product at the long end, and left strategists wondering what to believe now that the rules of the market have changed. Although Treasury under-secretary Peter Fisher's statement linked the suspension to a projected long term reduction in borrowing needs, the US economy is expected to benefit from the sharp fall in long term rates caused by the bull flattening that followed the announcement.

It was German issuers who were looking for large volume on Tuesday as 14 trades were closed for $1.23 billion. Hypothekenbank in Essen did a euro750 million ($679.12 million) FRN via Merrill Lynch. The note matures on May 6 2003 and pays a coupon of Euribor flat. And DaimlerChrysler Co-ordination Center closed a six-month euro150 million MTN that pays interest singularly. Rabobank Nederland also looked for volume with a public deal for euro250 million. The note was the latest tap on previous issues that now total euro1.5 billion. The note matures on September 9 2005 and pays a single coupon of 4.500%. BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley and Rabobank International all acted as lead-managers. Other issuers looked for much smaller volumes. Royal Bank of Scotland closed a four-year euro9 million MTN through BNP Paribas. The plain vanilla floater carries a final coupon of 3m Euribor+1. Fellow UK issuer, Centauri Corp, also went for low volume with a euro3 million MTN that matures on November 5 2004. The longest-dated trade came from Goldman Sachs Group - a euro65 million note that goes out to December 31 2008.

All eyes were focused on the dollar market this week as the US Treasury's suspension of 30 year auctions sent Treasuries rocketing and corporate spreads dramatically wider. Among the worst affected were recent issuers such as GMAC, whose 30 year bond widened from 277bp over Treasuries to 298bp. Kraft Foods, however, which issued a $4bn debut transaction early in the week, was able to price $2bn of five year notes, $2bn of 10 year notes and $750m of 30 year bonds tighter than comparables.

Private and public bank names were in demand in US dollar yesterday. All the issuers were single-A and above, as investors continue to be wary of taking credit risk. The mid-term saw the most demand, with only two borrowers selling notes past six years. At the short end HSBC Investment Bank (Netherlands) issued a five-week trade for $20 million. UBS (Jersey) went out to six months with a $20.80 million trade with a single interest payment and a coupon of 5.100%. HSBC Bank USA went out longer with a one-year $4 million trade. In the three-year sector three issuers closed identical trades for $13.28 million. UBS Warburg was the lead manager for the trades issued by Dexia Credit Local de France, Landesbank Rheinland-Pfalz and Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein. All the trades are straight zero coupons and were issued at a discount of 90.246%, 89.645% and 89.657% respectively. They are due to settle on November 2 2001 and will mature on October 29 2004. The same three issuers also issued similar tranches of the deal in Singapore dollar. The investor is thought to be a European fund investment manager that has a fund based in Singapore. Vattenfall Treasury issued a $5 million four-and-a-half-year note, its second US dollar trade this year. The note is due on November 6. And in the six-year sector DePfa-Bank Europe closed a $20 million trade due on November 14. Commonwealth Bank of Australia went out to 11 years with a $10 million trade and Bank Austria did a $10 million plain vanilla trade via Goldman Sachs. It pays a fixed rate of 6% annually and goes out to November 14 2016.

All eyes were focused on the dollar market this week as the US Treasury's suspension of 30 year auctions sent Treasuries rocketing and corporate spreads dramatically wider. Among the worst affected were recent issuers such as GMAC, whose 30 year bond widened from 277bp over Treasuries to 298bp. Kraft Foods, however, which issued a $4bn debut transaction early in the week, was able to price $2bn of five year notes, $2bn of 10 year notes and $750m of 30 year bonds tighter than comparables.

Austria Bids for OMV's debt facility were due in on Wednesday October 31.

Woolworths, the UK general retailer, is on the road to market a £100m five year high yield bond issue. Price talk is expected late on Monday with pricing on Wednesday. The proceeds will take out a bridge loan, part of a £350m financing of the company's demerger from Kingfisher in the summer. Barclays Capital is bookrunner, while Royal Bank of Scotland is joint lead manager.

* Compagnie de Financement Foncier Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Last week ended quietly, considering the busy days before Friday. Apart from an ¥11 billion ($90.71 million) trade from DaimlerChrysler Co-ordination Centre there were no deals over ¥3 billion. BNP Paribas was bookrunner for DaimlerChrysler's deal, which goes out to March next year. It has a fixed coupon of 0.45%. Two other German borrowers announced trades. Commerzbank did a ¥762.22 million one-year deal. It pays 4%. And Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank used Daiwa SMBC Europe for a ¥1.3 billion 20-year trade. The note is callable at every coupon payment date, and has a step-up structure to its fixed payments. The coupon is 1.5% until November 2006, 1.8% until November 2011, 2.2% until November 2016 and 2.6% thereafter. Some UK issuers were to be seen in the market too. Barclays Bank did a ¥100 million 25-year trade, its 100th of the year in yen. Royal Bank of Scotland announced one of the smallest yen trades ever. The ¥1 million 20-year note has a final coupon of 4%. And Marks and Spencer did a ¥6 million trade with Tokyo-Mitsubishi as bookrunner. The one-year note has a zero-coupon structure. Continental Europe was the busiest sector however. UBS announced a ¥2 billion five-year note; Svensk Exportkredit did two trades, for ¥300 million and ¥500 million. They mature in 30 years' time. And Hypo Alpe-Adria Bank announced a ¥500 million 15-year trade. The bookrunner was UBS Warburg, and the coupon is fixed for the first year at 3% and then becomes CMS-linked. American Honda Finance and Goldman Sachs both went for ¥3 billion trades. The former's goes out to November 2003 and the latter's to November 2006.

The financial sector was dominant in yen yesterday, even more so than usual. Of the 34 trades that were announced, non-financial issuers did just four. ARV International, the BNP Paribas-backed conduit, did two of these. It announced a ¥750 million ($6.18 million) 17-month trade, and a ¥740 million five-and-a-half year trade. GMAC International Finance did a ¥8.5 billion 19-month note that pays 1.45%. And Hitachi Credit (UK) announced a ¥3 billion note that goes out to November 2006. Sanwa International was the bookrunner and the coupon is fixed at 0.56%. Of the financials, BNP Paribas and Daiwa Securities SMBC were the most active. They each announced four trades, ranging from ¥100 million to ¥1 billion, and between three months and 20-years in length. Vorarlberger Landes- und Hypothekenbank did a ¥1 billion 25-year trade with Kokusai as bookrunner. The note has a fixed coupon of 4.55% for the first two years, when it then becomes callable annually and turns into a power reverse dual currency note. The Royal Bank of Scotland announced a ¥1 billion deal that matures in November 2021. Mizuho was the dealer. Mizuho also led a deal for KfW International Finance. It was a ¥1 billion 15-year trade. And it did a ¥1 billion trade for World Bank too. The note goes out to November 2031. DaimlerChrysler Australia Pacific did a ¥3 billion four-month deal. And Deutsche Bank, the only other German issuer in the market yesterday except for KfW, did a ¥1 billion 12-year note that pays 1.2%.