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The equity markets put participants through yet more pain this week, as stock prices across the globe reacted viciously to the US Federal Reserve's decision to lower interest rates by 50bp. The Nasdaq fell 4.8% on Tuesday, when the announcement was made, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average 2.4%. The bad sentiment continued throughout the week, with the FTSE 100 and the Dax 30 indices both losing more than 4% yesterday (Thursday).

* Allgemeine Hypothekenbank AG Rating: Aa2/AAA/AA+

Wind turbine manufacturer Nordex launched what could be the Neuer Markt's biggest IPO of 2001 into hideous market conditions this week. The deal will struggle to swim upstream as stock prices on the high growth exchange flow steadily down. Bookbuilding for the Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein led issue began on Tuesday and will close on March 30. By yesterday (Thursday) the Nemax 50 index had reached another all-time low of 1,422.85. "There is no buying interest at all," said a Neuer Markt fund manager in Frankfurt.

* European Investment Bank Rating: Aaa/AAA/AAA

Nordex was forced to cut the price range for its Neuer Markt IPO by 18% today (Monday), taking the amount set to be raised down to Eu370m at the middle of the range, with investors continuing to demand weighty discounts to compensate for market volatility.

The Russian oil and gas sector is attracting attention this week with two loans signed and another launched into the market. HypoVereinsbank has signed banks into the Eu250m five year term loan for Gazprom, the Russian oil and gas company.

Banca Carige, a retail bank based in the region of Liguria in northwest Italy, launched its first securitisation this week with a Eu166.5m deal backed by its non-performing mortgages and loans. Lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston, the transaction used a structure whereby the junior tranche was collateralised with Eu84.4m of Italian government bonds provided by Carige.

* Merrill Lynch and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney will price their £222.5m securitisation of equity release mortgages for UK life and pensions company Norwich Union today (Friday). "This has been a very successful transaction and there are just a few finishing touches to complete," said a syndicate official at one of the leads. "The deal is well oversubscribed on both tranches."

Euro Capital Structures, the Dublin-based structured finance boutique owned by Fiat and UniCredito Italiano, last Friday launched a Eu503m arbitrage CDO backed by euro denominated leveraged loans. Lead managed by Credit Suisse First Boston (books) and UniCredit Banca Mobiliare, the deal parcelled speculative grade senior secured loans.

Credit Suisse First Boston is hoping to launch its securitisation of commercial mortgages secured by UK care homes for the elderly today (Friday). The £213m deal is backed by a portfolio of 508 loans owned by the bank's principal finance group, which stems from its acquisition of UCB Healthcare, a UK unit of France's Compagnie Bancaire, in 1997.

European investors will get a rare chance to buy bonds in euros from one of the premier US asset backed issuers next week, when Citibank launches a Eu1bn credit card securitisation. The deal will be a 10 year fixed rate triple-A issue and is expected to be priced by lead manager Schroder Salomon Smith Barney at 24bp-25bp over mid-swaps.

UK mortgage bank Northern Rock launched its fourth and largest securitisation last Friday, with a £1.5bn deal that included global bonds for the first time. Lead managed by Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, the transaction blew out as investors starved of European asset backed paper snapped up bonds from an issuer that has won a widespread following in the last two years.