Mizuho, JPMorgan, Citigroup price following dovish Fed statement; Apple firms; Exxon steady

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

Virginia Beach, March 19 – The rapid pace of issuance resumed on Thursday on the heels of the release of a dovish statement from the Federal Reserve.

Financial names made up the bulk of the day’s new bonds, with Mizuho Bank Ltd., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. pricing deals.

Mizuho Bank sold the session’s largest new issue, bringing to market $2.5 billion of notes in four tranches.

The fixed-rate tranches sold around 15 basis points tight compared to initial talk, and the deal attracted an order book that was around 3.6 times oversubscribed.

In other primary happenings, JP Morgan sold an upsized $1.25 billion add-on in line with initial guidance, while Citigroup’s new $1 billion subordinated note priced around 17 bps tight of talk.

RenaissanceRe Finance Inc. sold a $300 million 10-year offering of notes on Thursday in its first entry into the investment-grade primary market since 2010.

The deal sold at the same level as initial price talk, and its order book was around 1.3 times oversubscribed.

Investment-grade bonds were mixed over the session, while credit spreads softened, sources said.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade series 23 index eased 2 bps to a spread of 64 bps.

In the secondary market, Apple Inc.’s 2.5% notes due 2025 traded about 1 bp better.

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s senior notes (Aaa/AAA/) headed out unchanged but remain weaker than issuance.

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