ICBC taps market; Latin American bonds see sellers; liquidity drying up before holidays

By Christine Van Dusen

Atlanta, Dec. 18 – Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (London Branch) sold notes on a weaker Friday for emerging markets assets, with Latin American bonds losing steam, as the Bank of Japan’s tweaks to its buying program failed to lift risk markets overall.

“With year-end upon us, I guess liquidity will die away shortly,” a trader said.

China-based ICBC’s new deal totaled $300 million 2¼% three-year notes that priced at 99.847 to yield 2.303% in a Regulation S deal.

In trading, bonds from Turkey were trading fairly flat, another trader said, with long-dated bonds well-bid overall.

“The tone in Turkey is constructive,” he said, noting that the country’s central bank would meet the following week. “I think most expectations are ‘no move,’ although some would like to see a hike following the Fed. But given foreign exchange is stable and the political pressure on the central bank to cut rates, I can’t see any chance of a hike.”

Turkish banks saw two-way flows and solid bids for corporates from retail investors, he said.

The market was also paying close attention to Brazil, which this week was downgraded to junk by Fitch Ratings. The sovereign saw its curve steepen toward record levels by Friday, with activity in the 2017s, 2019s and – to a lesser extent – the 2021s, a New York-based trader said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
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