Morning Commentary: High-grade primary market busy; Mizuho, Ford, Regency, EBRD on deck

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Feb. 28 – February is ending on a strong note with Wednesday’s session expected to host several investment-grade issuers, according to market sources.

In corporate supply, Mizuho Financial Group, Inc., Bank of America Corp., Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC, Regency Centers, LP, Southern California Edison Co., Occidental Petroleum Corp., the Travelers Cos., Inc. and Kennedy-Wilson, Inc. are marketing bonds.

A couple of SSA issuers also are expected to tap the primary market on Wednesday.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Aaa/AAA/AAA) is offering global notes due March 7, 2023. The notes were initially talked to price with a spread in the mid-swaps plus 9 basis points area.

Also, Municipality Finance plc (Aa1/AA+) plans to price a benchmark-sized offering of five-year notes that were initially talked to price with at the mid-swaps plus 16 bps area.

Issuance has been strong over the past two sessions, and heavy supply is forecast in March by syndicate sources.

Nearly $20 billion of investment-grade issues priced on Monday and Tuesday.

For the week, market sources expect about $25 billion to $30 billion of bond issuance.

Elsewhere, secondary market volume has been strong in line with the heavy deal supply. On Tuesday, $21.34 billion of bonds were traded, while Monday’s session had trading volume of $22.18 billion, according to Trace.

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