EM starts strong, then sees some prices slip; Lat-Am bonds slow down; Turkey outperforms

By Christine Van Dusen

Atlanta, March 21 – Emerging markets assets remained strong on Monday morning – even with Japan out on holiday and the United States looking ahead to the Easter weekend – but in the afternoon saw some weakness alongside U.S. Treasuries.

Trading of Latin American bonds was slow on Monday, with the market “looking for conviction to grind higher,” a New York-based trader said.

“So far, bids seem just as strong, if not stronger” than on Friday, he said. “Interesting to note is the few inquiries so far have been client sells, and mixed inquiries in [Colombia’s Ecopetrol SA], a few institutional sellers and one buyer.”

He also saw some institutional sellers of Mexico-based Cemex SAB de CV’s bonds.

Trading remained quiet later in the day, with spreads tightening but many prices declining, another New York-based trader said.

Meanwhile, bonds from Turkey were very strong, even after the bombing in Istanbul, another trader said.

“Good demand across the curve, and fast money is squeezing up the long end of the curve,” he said.

Turkish banks were also trading well on Monday, he said.

Bonds from Azerbaijan and South Africa were trading “OK” as buyers continued to surface, another trader said.

Looking to Pakistan, the sovereign’s 2019s remain well-bid, but buyers are “becoming price-sensitive,” a trader said.

© 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.