Peabody debt rises despite wider loss; Consol inches higher; AK Steel beats expectations

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, July 28 – There was “generally a little bounce in some stuff,” a distressed debt trader reported Tuesday.

The bounce came amid a round of earnings in the commodity space.

Peabody Energy Corp., for one, brought its second-quarter results early in the day. The numbers missed estimates, but investors pushed the company’s bonds higher anyway.

In addition to announcing its latest results, the coal producer also said it was suspending its stock dividend.

Consol Energy Inc. was another name with earnings out. As the company warned just a week ago, its quarterly loss widened for the quarter. However, the company maintained its production growth forecasts for the coming two years.

Rounding out the earnings releasers was AK Steel Holding Corp. Those figures beat expectations, resulting in as much as a 7-point point pop in the bonds.

Overall, strength was seen returning to the commodity space, helped in part by a gain in benchmark crude oil prices.

“All [the gains] were on oil, which stemmed the tide of outflows,” a trader said.

Looking ahead, Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. paper was trending mostly higher ahead of the iron ore producer’s earnings release on Wednesday.

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