Primary empty, week unlikely to meet expectations; Assured Guaranty widens; AIG mixed

By Cristal Cody and Aleesia Forni

Virginia Beach, July 10 – The high-grade primary market was empty of new issuance on Thursday.

Earnings blackouts, coupled with a softer tone to the day’s market, kept issuers on the sidelines during the session.

Issuance this week has been fairly light, with the market seeing around $11.8 billion of new issuance.

The week’s total is unlikely to meet expectations of what sources had predicted to be around $15 billion of supply.

“We’ll see,” a source said.

Trading activity was “very quiet,” a trader said.

Investment-grade bonds traded mostly weaker over the afternoon, according to market sources.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade series 22 index eased 1 basis point to a spread of 58 bps.

American International Group Inc.’s senior notes (Baa1/A-/BBB+) brought on Wednesday traded flat to softer, according to a trader.

Assured Guaranty US Holdings Inc.’s 5% senior notes due 2024 have widened since the issue priced in June, according to a trader. The notes traded about 1 bp weaker on the day and more than 20 bps wider from issuance.

Investment-grade bank and brokerage CDS costs rose, according to a market source.

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