Financials storm investment-grade primary; MetLife notes flat; Pfizer, AstraZeneca firm

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

New York, Jan. 12 – Another deluge of deals entered Tuesday’s investment-grade bond market, led by a host of financial names, including Bank of Nova Scotia, Macquarie Bank Ltd., Standard Chartered plc, Credit Agricole SA and Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG.

Roughly $8.3 billion of new investment-grade issuance hit the primary during the session, pushing the week’s total to more than $12.9 billion.

Issuers tapped the market in light of a more positive market backdrop, with stocks rallying and credit spreads tightening.

Macquarie Bank brought the largest deal to market on Tuesday, selling $2.5 billion in three parts, all at the tightest side of initial price thoughts, while Bank of Nova Scotia saw around $2.5 billion of orders for its two-part sale.

Also on Tuesday, Virginia Electric & Power Co. and American Airlines, Inc. were each in the market with upsized new issues.

American Airlines increased the size of each tranche of its three-part offering of pass-through certificates.

In the secondary market on Tuesday, MetLife Inc.’s 3.6% senior notes due 2025 headed out unchanged.

Pfizer Inc.’s 3.4% senior notes due 2024 remain strong since the company announced plans of a $160 billion merger with Dublin-based Allergen plc in late November and traded about 1 bp tighter on Tuesday.

AstraZeneca plc’s 3.375% senior notes due 2025 firmed 1 bp during the session.

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