Four junk issuers sell $4 billion; real money accounts sell in secondary; outflows top $4 billion

By Paul A. Harris and Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., Feb. 3 – Thursday’s junk bond primary market, expectedly busier, managed to get four issuers through pricing for just shy of $4 billion.

Meanwhile, the secondary space saw another volatile session with mini-selloffs and mini-rallies occurring throughout the day.

However, the market “gave up” into the close with sellers firmly in control, a source said.

The market ended the day down about ½ point.

While secondary selling had largely been driven by ETF flows, real money accounts such as pension and insurance funds were among the sellers of Thursday’s session, a source said.

New issues were struggling under the heavy market conditions.

AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc.’s 7½% first-lien senior notes due 2029 (Caa1/B-) were struggling in aftermarket activity.

Mednax, Inc.’s 5 3/8% senior notes due 2030 (Ba3/B+) gave back their premium and were also struggling below par after a strong break.

High-yield mutual and exchange-traded funds saw their outflows accelerate with funds losing $4.043 billion in the week through Wednesday’s close, according to the Refinitiv Lipper US Fund Flows Report.

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