Middle Eastern bond spreads tighten; Ukraine unchanged; lower yields for Romania, Croatia

By Christine Van Dusen

Atlanta, July 3 – Yields rose for bonds from Central and emerging Europe on Thursday as spreads tightened for Middle Eastern bonds on the back of Treasury moves. But overall, the emerging markets universe was quiet ahead of the July 4 holiday.

“Some bonds remain heavy and offered,” a London-based trader said, pointing to sovereign bonds from Bahrain and paper from parts of Kuwait.

“Almost all of Qatar and Abu Dhabi remains pretty solid,” he said. “Definitely witnessed some money being put to work in the 10-year part of this area the past two days.”

The 2024 bonds from Dubai’s Majid Al Futtaim Holding LLC (MAF), Emaar Properties PJSC and Saudi Electricity Co. all traded well and saw demand on Thursday, he said.

Dubai-based Damac Real Estate Development Ltd.’s recent 4.97% notes due in 2019 that priced at par suffered, closing at 96 1/8 bid, 96 7/8 offered.

In other trading near the end of the shortened week, bonds from Ukraine were mostly unchanged, even as military operations renewed in the East and investors watched for Russia’s reaction, said Svitlana Rusakova of Dragon Capital.

Meanwhile, the primary market was mostly quiet, the London trader said.

Bonds from Central and emerging Europe saw higher yields for local currency and euro-denominated bonds during the week, according to a report from Erste Group Research.

Romania and Croatia were exceptions, however, with lower yields by the end of the week.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.