Morning Commentary: Investment-grade primary market quiets; Kroger notes mixed

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., July 21 – Activity in the high-grade bond market stayed quiet over the morning on Friday following strong bank and financial issuance over the week from issuers including Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co.

The three-month Libor yield was unchanged on Friday at 1.31%, according to a market source.

In the secondary market, Kroger Co.’s existing notes (Baa1/BBB/BBB) were mixed over the morning.

Kroger’s 3.5% notes due Feb. 1, 2026 traded in the 100.19 area early Friday, a market source said.

Kroger sold $500 million of the notes on Jan. 8, 2016 at 99.76 to yield 3.53%.

The company’s 4.45% notes due Feb. 1, 2047 were flat at 98.46.

The Cincinnati-based grocery retailer sold $1 billion of the bonds on Jan. 17, 2017 at 99.87 to yield 4.46%.

On Thursday, $13.87 billion of investment-grade issues were traded, according to Trace.

Secondary market volume in the previous session totaled $17.53 billion, according to Trace.

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