Primary stalls ahead of holiday; FedEx tight; Apple, Cisco firm; credit spreads soften

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

New York, March 24 – The investment-grade bond primary market was unsurprisingly empty of any new issuance during a shortened session on Thursday.

The quiet trading day closed out an abbreviated week for investment-grade bonds that saw $15.35 billion of new paper price ahead of the extended Easter holiday weekend.

One market source commented that next week’s pace may be lighter compared to recent weeks, with the bulk of supply coming at the front end of the week as issuers get in ahead of Friday’s payrolls data.

Sources are calling for around $15 billion to $20 billion of paper for the week ahead.

“Things are starting to slow a little bit,” he said.

Secondary trading activity was mostly quiet in the high-grade bond market over the short trading day, sources reported on Thursday.

FedEx Corp.’s 3.25% notes due 2026 that priced on Monday remained about 20 basis points better than issuance going out on Thursday.

Newell Rubbermaid Inc.’s 4.2% senior notes due 2026 (Baa3/BBB-/BBB-) sold in the previous week were not seen in secondary trading, a trader said.

Apple Inc.’s 3.25% notes due 2026 that were reopened a week ago tightened 5 bps during the day.

Cisco Systems, Inc.’s 2.95% senior notes due 2026 headed out 4 bps tighter.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade index eased 2 bps over the short session to close at a spread of 83 bps.

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