Primary quiet to close out $8.7 billion week; heavy trading in new Peabody, Energy XXI bonds

By Paul A. Harris and Paul Deckelman

New York, March 6 – The first trading week in March came to a close on a quiet note on Friday, with no new dollar-denominated, junk-rated issues coming to market.

That left the week’s tally of new junk bonds right where it had closed out Thursday, with $8.72 billion of such bonds from domestic and industrialized-country borrowers having priced, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

Traders said that the week’s newly issued bonds were the dominant feature in Friday’s secondary market, which was otherwise lower by anywhere from ¼ to ½ point, with some better-grade issues down even more, taking their cue from Treasuries, which were lower on expectations that the stronger U.S. economic data reported Friday morning will mean higher interest rates sooner rather than later.

Thursday’s two big deals were also the biggest players in Friday’s junk market, with over $100 million of the new Peabody Energy Corp. seven-year secured notes trading, followed by the more than $90 million of Energy XXI Gulf Coast, Inc.’s five-year secured notes. Peabody’s paper initially popped, but ended up changing hands right around its issue price.

On the other hand, the traders said that Energy XXI’s notes also firmed solidly when they were freed for secondary trading – but they held on to those gains to go out better by more than 3 full points.

© 2015 Prospect News.
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