Headlines
Indices moving tighter after the January volatility.
Verizon was the talk of the town in primary markets.
Nordic secondary spreads have remained strong throughout EM turbulence.
Market commentary
The final weeks of January came as a kind of perfect storm to global financial markets. The depreciation of emerging market currencies of the past six months peaked as investors feared how the rest of the world would be affected by the Fed’s adamant tapering. An environment with lower levels of excess liquidity is looming and markets are trying to cope with this return to (some sort of) normalcy. This week, however, indices have performed, both CDS indices such as iTraxx and those consisting of cash bonds. The reporting season is well under way and several Nordic issuers have presented their fourth quarter results. Overall utilities have come in somewhat better than expectations, while industrials have been more mixed. Nordic banks’ results have been in line and quite shareholder friendly.
A somewhat slow week in the primary markets, especially in SEK. Verizon’s awaited continental deal helped support weekly EUR volumes. After setting the record for the largest issue ever last year, this week the telecom giant managed to price the three-part EUR and GBP deal on fairly tight levels compared to its outstanding USD bonds.
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