High-grade primary action quiets ahead of holiday; light December volume eyed; Westpac stable

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Nov. 27 – High-grade supply quieted on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday with little market activity expected until December.

The bond markets will be closed Thursday and will close early at 2 p.m. ET on Friday for the holiday.

Week to date, high-grade issuers priced $3.75 billion of dollar-denominated notes.

Up to about $5 billion of investment-grade paper was anticipated to price this week.

November corporate investment-grade bond supply totaled more than $101 billion, outpacing October volume of $65.43 billion and bringing year to date supply to $1.09 trillion, according to Prospect News data.

Looking ahead to December, volume is forecast to remain light with about $20 billion to $30 billion of issuance likely, syndicate sources said.

Deal volume likely will ramp up in the first half of the month before quieting for the year. The bulk of December’s supply is being eyed to print in the first week after Thanksgiving, sources report.

About $15 billion to $20 billion of issuance is forecast for the upcoming week, according to syndicate sources.

After the holiday break, Experian Finance plc will hold fixed-income investor calls on Monday for a dollar-denominated Rule 144A and Regulation S offering of 10-year senior notes (Baa1/A-/), a market source said.

HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Santander Investment Securities Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities LLC are the arrangers.

Elsewhere, the Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 33 index softened about 0.5 basis point to end Wednesday at a spread of 49.5 bps.

In the secondary market, bonds were mixed over the session.

Dominion Energy Gas Holdings, LLC’s 3% senior notes due Nov. 15, 2029 softened 3 bps.

AbbVie Inc.’s 3.2% notes due Nov. 21, 2029 widened 5 bps.

Westpac Banking Corp.’s 2.35% senior notes due Feb. 19, 2025 were flat on the day but have recovered about 5 bps since Friday.

Dominion Energy eases

Dominion Energy Gas Holdings’ 3% senior notes due Nov. 15, 2029 (Baa1/BBB+/BBB+) eased 3 bps in secondary trading on Wednesday to 129 bps bid, according to a market source.

The company sold $600 million of the 10-year notes on Nov. 18 at a Treasuries plus 123 bps spread.

Dominion Energy Gas Holdings is a Richmond, Va.-based natural gas company and subsidiary of Dominion Energy Inc.

AbbVie softens

AbbVie’s 3.2% notes due Nov. 21, 2029 (Baa2/A-/) widened 5 bps during the session to 128 bps bid, a market source said.

The notes priced in a $5.5 billion tranche on Nov. 12 as part of a $30 billion 10-part deal at a Treasuries plus 130 bps spread.

AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company based in North Chicago, Ill.

Westpac stable

Westpac Banking’s 2.35% senior notes due Feb. 19, 2025 (Aa3/AA-) were unchanged on the day at 73 bps bid, according to a market source.

The notes were seen on Monday at 77 bps bid.

Westpac Banking sold $1.25 billion of the notes on Nov. 12 at a Treasuries plus 63 bps spread.

The bank is based in Sydney, Australia.

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