Quiet primary closes $5 billion week; new issues hold most gains; energy again under pressure

By Paul Deckelman

New York, Nov. 20 – The high-yield market closed out the week on Friday with little new activity seen in the primary sphere, which was fresh off Thursday’s hectic session during which nearly $3 billion of new U.S. dollar-denominated and fully junk-rated paper priced in a half-dozen tranches.

That left the needle on the new-deal meter right where it had been at the end of Thursday’s session, with issuance for the week at some $4.97 billion in nine tranches, up from $4.07 billion which got done, also in nine tranches, last week, ended Nov. 13, according to data compiled by Prospect News.

Traders in the secondary market meantime saw the new deals which had priced on Thursday holding on to the gains that they had noted in initial aftermarket trading after their respective pricings. Those credits – including Equinix Inc., LifePoint Health, Inc., Constellation Brands, Inc. and American Energy-Permian Basin LLC – were among the most actively traded bonds in Junkbondland.

Away from the new deals, market participants reported continued weakness in oil and natural gas-oriented names such as Chesapeake Energy Corp. and Halcon Resources Corp.

Statistical measures of junk market performance turned mixed on Friday, after having been lower across the board on Thursday. With the indicators also having been mixed on Monday and again on Wednesday, it was the second mixed session in the last three and the third mixed session in the last five trading days.

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