Morning Commentary: Investment-grade primary quiet; secondary active; AT&T, Time Warner up

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Aug. 31 – Investment-grade market action stayed quiet over the morning on Thursday as desks thin ahead of the long holiday weekend.

Little primary action is expected until after the Labor Day holiday.

The secondary market remains active with $13.7 billion of high-grade bonds traded on Wednesday, according to Trace.

In early trading on Thursday, AT&T Inc.’s 3.9% notes due Aug. 14, 2027 were up a nickel at 100.94, a market source said.

The notes priced in a $5 billion tranche on July 27 at 99.827 to yield 3.92% and a spread of 160 basis points over Treasuries.

The Dallas-based telecommunications company’s bonds (Baa1/BBB+/A-) have traded heavily over the week.

AT&T plans to acquire Time Warner Inc. in an $85.4 billion cash and stock deal expected to close before the end of the year.

Time Warner’s 2.95% notes due 2026 traded mid-morning at 94.96, a dime higher than where the notes went out on Wednesday.

Time Warner (Baa2/BBB/BBB+) sold $800 million of the notes on May 5, 2016 at 98.70 to yield 3.1%, or a spread of 135 bps over Treasuries.

The media and entertainment company is based in New York.

© 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.