Morning Commentary: Primary action set; Westpac Banking, Amgen firm; Libor yield rises

By Cristal Cody

Eureka Springs, Ark., Aug. 24 – High-grade bond issuers including Bank of Montreal and Synchrony Financial are in Wednesday’s deal pipeline, while bonds traded mostly better in the secondary market over the morning.

Westpac Banking Corp.’s 2% notes due 2021 improved 4 basis points.

Amgen Inc.’s 2.6% senior notes due 2026 traded about 1 bp tighter.

The three-month Libor yield was up 1 bp to 83 bps early Wednesday.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade index opened the session unchanged at a spread of 71 bps.

Investment-grade secondary trading volume rose to $14.6 billion on Tuesday from $10.32 billion on Monday, according to Trace.

Westpac tightens

Westpac Banking’s 2% notes due 2021 traded early Wednesday 4 bps tighter at 76 bps offered, a market source said.

Westpac Banking sold $1.5 billion of the notes (Aa2/AA-/AA-) on Aug. 11 at a spread of 87.5 bps over Treasuries.

The Australian bank and financial services provider is based in Sydney.

Amgen firms

Amgen’s 2.6% senior notes due 2026 improved about 1 bp to 107 bps offered in the secondary market, a source said.

The company sold $1.25 billion of the notes (Baa1/A) on Aug. 10 at 110 bps over Treasuries.

Amgen is a Thousand Oaks, Calif., manufacturer and marketer of human therapeutics based upon advances in cellular and molecular biology.

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