Morgan Stanley prices to solid demand, tightens in aftermarket; Verizon mixed

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

Virginia Beach, Jan. 22 – Morgan Stanley, U.S. Bank NA and Jackson National Life Global Funding priced bonds on Thursday, as the European Central Bank announced it would begin a bond-buying program to boost growth in the Eurozone economy.

The ECB will purchase €60 billion of assets per month through September 2016.

Morgan Stanley’s new $5.5 billion three-part issue outperformed on the heels of the announcement. The new issue attracted an orderbook that was more than 2.5 times oversubscribed.

U.S. Bank’s new $2.25 billion deal was also well received by investors.

Meanwhile, Jackson National Life Global Funding priced $350 million of 18-month floating-rate notes.

The investment-grade bond market has hosted around $21.25 billion of new issuance this week, falling in line with what was expected to be around a $20 billion week.

Investment-grade corporate bonds and credit spreads firmed over the session, according to market sources.

Morgan Stanley’s new fixed-rate notes tightened 10 basis points to 15 bps in aftermarket trading, a trader said.

The company’s existing paper traded mostly unchanged, according to a market source.

Verizon Communications Inc.’s bonds were mixed in the secondary market over the afternoon after the company reported a fourth-quarter earnings loss earlier in the day, a source said.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade index headed out 3 bps tighter at a spread of 68 bps.

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