Starbucks, Williams, Phillips 66, Burlington, Cargill among issuers; heavy supply forecast

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Feb. 26 – The high-grade bond market kicked the week off with strong issuance ahead of what is expected to be an active week of deal supply, according to market sources on Monday.

Issuers including Starbucks Corp., Williams Partners LP, Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC, CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC, Stryker Corp., Phillips 66, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC, Florida Power & Light Co., Enbridge Inc., Cargill Inc. and the Bank of England tapped the primary market during the session.

Deal volume is expected in the $25 billion to $30 billion range over the week with the potential for more, sources report.

Looking ahead, March high-grade supply volume “should increase nearly 70% increase from February,” according to a BofA Merrill Lynch research note released on Monday.

BofA Merrill Lynch analysts forecast $130 billion of supply with a range of $110 billion to $150 billion over the month.

“The risk to the $130 [billion] middle of that range stems from a number of larger M&A deals that may or may not go in March, depending on regulatory approvals and other developments,” the analysts said.

Elsewhere on Monday, credit spreads tightened. The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 29 index firmed about 1.5 basis points to a spread of 54 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.