Spain

Portugal’s bond yields fell to levels last seen in early September, as investor worries eased over a vital ratings review of the sovereign by DBRS this Friday.

Officials from Madrid this week sent the clearest message yet from a European Union country that the race to grab portions of London’s financial empire has begun.

Spain has auctioned 50 year debt for the first time, wiping more than 80bp from its cost of funds compared with when it first syndicated the paper nearly six months ago.

Euro issuance this week is very much focused on long dated bonds, with Bank Nederlandse Gemeenten printing a 20 year syndication on Monday and other European agencies and sovereigns looking to tap the long end of the curve via auctions.

Fresenius has completed a €1.2bn incremental loan to help fund the acquisition of Spanish hospital group Quirónsalud. The company has also added a fourth bank to a separate €3.75bn club loan to help fund the purchase, according to a banker close to the deal.

Rating: BBB

Including redemptions and central bank buying, the investable eurozone covered bond market has shrunk almost €80bn so far this year. No surprise, then, that three seven year deals issued this week by Ibercaja, Banco Sabadell and Bank of Montreal were swamped with demand.

Including redemptions and central bank buying the investable eurozone covered bond market has shrunk almost €80bn so far this year. No surprise then that seven year deals issued on Thursday by Banco Sabadell and Bank of Montreal were swamped and priced with virtually no concession.

Infrastructure and renewable energy firm Acciona is marketing a €100m green promissory note, one of only a handful of green Schuldscheine ever completed and a rare deal from a Spanish borrower.

Telefónica returned to the euro bond market after only a month with a more vanilla offering than its last issue, a hybrid bond, as investors favoured the shorter piece of its dual tranche offering.

On Monday Spain's Ibercaja returned to the covered bond market for the first time since 2010 to issue the tightest Spanish deal this year. Although the book contained fewer orders than many Spanish covered bonds, the scale of excess demand was above average.

The covered bond pipeline grew this week as Ibercaja and BNP Paribas Fortis mandated leads for roadshows and Nordea signalled it could be ready to return soon.