Textron prices issue following strong jobs data; ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil issues mixed

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

New York, March 4 – Textron Inc. priced $350 million of notes on Friday at the tight end of guidance to close out the week on the heels of strong U.S. jobs data.

Non-farm payrolls grew by 242,000 during the month of February, topping earlier forecasts of 190,000.

The better-than-expected data closes out what has been a stellar week for the high-grade bond market, with more than $52 billion of supply hitting the tape.

The pace is expected to carry over into the week ahead, with another $35 billion to $40 billion of investment-grade issuance predicted to price.

Meantime, Lipper US Fund Flows reported $761 million of outflows from corporate investment-grade bond funds for the week ended March 3.

This figure follows last week’s $141.8 million of inflows and brings the total year-to-date outflows to about $6.13 billion.

Investment-grade bonds were mixed over the session.

“Secondary was slow for me,” a trader said. “Seemed quiet out there, but maybe others had more flow.”

ConocoPhillips Co.’s 4.95% senior notes due 2026 priced on Thursday traded modestly tighter to 2 basis points softer during the session.

The company’s existing bonds traded 3 bps to 20 bps better on Friday after tightening 5 bps to 15 bps on Thursday.

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s 3.043% notes due 2026 traded mostly flat to 1 bp softer on Friday.

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