Higher deal supply forecast; National Fuel sets calls; PG&E eases; American Express firms

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Aug. 3 – Investment-grade deal action stayed quiet on Friday with deal volume expected to climb over the coming week.

Issuers priced about $8 billion of investment-grade bonds during the week, coming in slower than market sources expected.

About $15 billion to as much as $25 billion of bond supply had been forecast, though some sources predicted volume to stay on the light side due to early to mid-week central bank meetings that included the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan as well as Friday’s release of the monthly employment report.

Looking ahead to the upcoming week, syndicate sources predict about $20 billion to $25 billion of supply.

Also ahead, Williamsville, N.Y., energy company National Fuel Gas Co. (Baa3/BBB/BBB) plans to hold fixed-income investor calls on Monday, a market source said. BofA Merrill Lynch, HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are the arrangers.

In the secondary market, new issues were mixed in trading on Friday.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co.’s $800 million two-tranche offering of fixed-rate senior notes priced Thursday softened 2 basis points on the bid side.

American Express Co.’s $2.35 billion of senior notes (A3/BBB+/A) priced in two tranches on Tuesday tightened about 3 bps.

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