Wells Fargo Securities

The dollar market got off to a busy start in August with US telecoms heavyweights Verizon and Comcast taking home a combined $5.5bn on the back of strong demand.

AT&T racked up a monster order book on Thursday, as the US telecoms giant hit the market with a $22.5bn M&A financing.

Kroger and Alimentation Couche-Tard led a flurry of issuance by dollar borrowers to exploit red hot demand for high grade paper. With the bulk of corporate America in earnings blackout, the retailers demonstrated the strength of investor sentiment.

Midstream energy company Oneok made a convincing return to the dollar market on Thursday with its first investment grade deal in two years.

Banco Santander has launched its €7.07bn fully underwritten rights issue to support its acquisition of the failed Banco Popular Español, saying it expects to make a return on investment on the deal of 13% to 14% by 2020.

GarantiBank International (GBI), a Dutch subsidiary of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, fully drew a $250m one year loan, in order to finance the firm’s global trade activities.

Dollar borrowers wrapped up their funding projects before the July 4 holiday weekend and dodged a global sell-off as central bankers pointed to the end of monetary stimulus.

GarantiBank International (GBI), a Dutch subsidiary of Turkiye Garanti Bankasi, has signed a $250m loan that was oversubscribed by 19 banks, according to a banker on the deal.

A call by US Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin this week to lessen the capital burden on banks had a bigger effect on US rates than a well telegraphed Federal Reserve target rate rise, creating some breathing space in long end swap spreads. That could ease long dated public sector bond issuance, but with euro market offering enviable duration funding, there may not be a queue of borrowers ready to print, writes Craig McGlashan.

Kommunalbanken built a doubly subscribed book on Tuesday for a long three year dollar deal that bankers said should give confidence to the market after a similar trade from KommuneKredit two weeks ago fell short of full subscription.

State Bank of India, which wrapped up a $500m syndication with 21 lenders this week, is already eyeing a new borrowing of about the same size, said bankers.

Industrial Commercial Bank of China’s London branch and subsidiary signed a self-arranged $1.25bn facility in an oversubscribed deal with 16 banks on Tuesday. The deal follows a spate of lending by the bank in emerging market deals.