Morning Commentary: EM debt quiet ahead of Fed decision; Banco Atlantida on roadshow

By Rebecca Melvin

New York, Sept. 26 – Emerging-markets debt was quiet early Wednesday ahead of the conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, which was widely expected to bring a 0.25% short-term interest rate increase.

The U.S. central bank releases its policy statement and forecasts at 2 p.m. ET, and Fed chairman Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at that time.

In the primary market, Honduras’ Banco Atlantida SA was in focus regarding whether market conditions are strong enough for it to price its proposed five-year senior unsecured notes (expected ratings: /BB-/B) for up to $350 million.

Fixed-income investor meetings were wrapping up on Wednesday, meaning Thursday would be the likely time for the deal to price, a New York-based market source said.

If Atlantida prices, “it will set up a good precedent and tell us what the market tone is. If it doesn’t, it could push us back again another couple of weeks,” the source said.

“It has been pretty quiet, quieter than I would have thought,” the source said, regarding issuance for the Latin America region for September.

Atlantida is a financial group based in Tegucigalpa. It was last in the market in July 2017 when it priced $150 million of 8¼% five-year notes due 2022.

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