United States

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.

US president Donald Trump looks unable to lead a global response to the health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, but the dollar is unchallenged as the global safe haven in times of crisis. This contradiction is destabilising.

There is a plan to rescue the US economy with a $500bn corporate bailout. At the time of writing, that plan is held up in the US Senate. While the country's president Donald Trump is griping about the delay, it’s a fight worth having. The Republican Party's proposal is woefully short on oversight.

Bank of America has become the first financial institution to launch a new deal in the European credit market for over a month. The US lender paid a huge premium for its €1.5bn senior bond on Tuesday, but it was able to move past its initial price thoughts on the back of a solid set of orders from investors.

Radical intervention by central banks around the world to calm markets will help give companies the comfort they need to prepare emergency capital increases to combat the effects of the spread of the coronavirus on their balance sheets, according to equity capital markets bankers.

A rush to dollars in recent days has caused dysfunctions in various corners of the financial markets. The US Federal Reserve has rushed to put out the flames, including with new measures on Monday.

The pace of emerging markets borrowers’ requests for official institution funding, amid the shocking deterioration of their bond markets, is picking up pace. On Sunday, Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had discussed using International Monetary Fund resources to fight the economic impact of Covid-19.

In this round-up, Europe has now seen more Covid-19 infections than China and Italy more fatalities than the Mainland, the central bank has decided not to lower the loan prime rate (LPR), and Beijing has banned reporters from three US newspapers.

Investment grade corporate and financial institution borrowers showed their strength with more than $44bn of US bond issuance in two frenetic windows this week, after central banks took emergency action to avert a global depression.

Wild swings in the euro/dollar basis swap, and an unreliable interest rate swap complicated bond execution in the SSA market this week. While some liquidity has returned in rates, cross currency swaps are still behaving very strangely.

The biggest investment banks are enjoying strong trading revenues from the market moves related to the coronavirus pandemic, alleviating a freeze in M&A and underwriting activity. The banks appear well-placed to deal with corporate drawdowns, although there is some debate around wider liquidity profiles.