United States

T-Mobile became the latest US company to cash in on the extraordinary boom in dollar bond issuance as it priced an increased $19bn deal on Thursday that attracted $72bn of demand.

Lloyds Banking Group became the first Yankee bank to access dollar funding for almost a month when it came to the market with a new senior deal on Thursday.

European banks broke a five year record for funding volumes in the first quarter, despite steering clear of markets for most of March. Their blistering start to the year will help them to sit out a while longer, as they wait for funding costs to settle during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dollar high yield buyers showed up in force for the largest priming debt opportunity provided so far by the coronavirus crisis, Carnival Corporation’s $4bn rescue offering, priced alongside a convertible and an equity capital raising on Wednesday. The package provides funds for the stricken cruise operator until November, but even if the company can’t start sailing again this year or next, investors in the new issue are first in line for the firm’s $38bn of assets.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary capital markets activity. The North American corporate bond market funded a staggering record $194bn of investment grade issues in March while Europe has also been busy — shaking up the league tables and yielding a surprise windfall for the very largest investment banks.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have received the green lights from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to increase ownership in their Mainland joint ventures to 51%.

Unusual or less traditional ways of trading bonds — via electronic platforms and exchange-traded funds — look set to come out well from the recent market turmoil.

In this round-up, Chinese industrial profits recorded the steepest drop in a decade, US president Donald Trump praised China’s understanding of Covid-19 and Hong Kong bourse’s Charles Li said closing the market is not the solution to stem sell-offs.

Those working in capital markets have found aspects of working from home difficult. But many believe the new routines will not be put back in the box once offices are allowed to fill up again.

Bank of America reopened the market for financial institution bonds in euros this week and was followed by a slew of other deals as investors welcomed wider spreads and new issue concessions.

US companies have smashed the all time record for bond issuance this month, as they plundered the dollar market in a headlong dash for liquidity that continued on Thursday, even though a darker record was broken: 3.3m new unemployment claims, more than four times the previous highest.

The volume of new euro senior debt sold by banks has hit €10bn this week, following deals from Barclays, Credit Suisse and NatWest Markets on Thursday. Yield and spread levels remain high, but market participants have been delighted to see investors throwing their confidence behind new transactions in the middle of the coronavirus crisis.