New supply thins; SunTrust Banks, National Australia Bank tap primary market; ERP eyes deal

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., July 26 – Primary action stayed light on Wednesday with market attention focused on the Federal Reserve’s release of its latest monetary policy.

SunTrust Banks, Inc. tapped the primary market with a $1 billion offering of five-year fixed-rate notes. The bank dropped a five-year floating-rate tranche from the final sale.

Also, National Australia Bank Ltd. came with $250 million of two-year floating-rate notes.

Looking ahead, a bond deal is expected from ERP Operating, LP following investor calls on Tuesday.

Deal volume week to date totals more than $8 billion. Market sources expected about $20 billion to $25 billion of issuance for the week.

In the secondary market, Whole Foods Market Inc.’s 5.2% notes due Dec. 3, 2025 headed out mostly unchanged but softer on the week following the release of its third quarter earnings results on Wednesday.

Food retailer bonds have been impacted since Amazon.com, Inc. announced in June it will purchase Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in cash.

Whole Foods’ 5.2% notes due 2025 (Baa3/BBB-/) traded on Wednesday at 85 bps bid, about 3 bps softer since Friday, a market source said.

The notes were quoted at 114.50 going out from 114.38 on Tuesday, another market source said.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade index closed flat at a spread of 56 bps.

© 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.