Midday Commentary: High-grade paper flat on low volume; Santander firms early in session

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Aug. 26 - Investment-grade bonds traded mostly unchanged in thin trading activity on Monday, market sources report.

"It's very quiet," a trader said. "There's a mixed bag this morning. A couple names are 2 [basis points] better, a couple are 2 [bps] wider, but everything is pretty much unchanged."

In the secondary market, Santander Holdings USA Inc.'s new 3.45% senior notes due 2018 traded early Monday at 168 bps bid, 163 bps offered.

"They're tightening off the open but unchanged since Friday," a trader said.

Santander sold $500 million of the notes (Baa2/BBB/BBB) on Thursday at a spread of Treasuries plus 180 bps.

Boston-based Santander Holdings is the parent company of Sovereign Bank and a subsidiary of Spain's Banco Santander, SA.

Abbey National holds

In other trading, Abbey National Treasury Services plc's 3.05% senior notes due 2018 were quoted at 149 bps bid, 144 bps offered early in the session.

The London-based financial services company sold $1 billion of the five-year notes (A2/A/A) at a spread of Treasuries plus 155 bps on Tuesday.

JPMorgan trades

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s 5.625% subordinated bonds due 2043 (A3/A-/A) continue to trade slightly better than where the bonds priced earlier in the month, a trader said.

The bonds traded on Monday at 187 bps bid, 183 bps offered.

The New York City-based financial services company sold $750 million of the bonds at a spread of Treasuries plus 190 bps on Aug. 14.

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