Midday Commentary: Market slows down for long weekend; Qwest, AXIS Capital hit NYSE

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, May 24 - A preferred stock trader said it was slow-going on Friday, as many people were absent going into the three-day Memorial Day weekend.

"No one is around," he said.

Looking ahead to the next week, the trader said that the market would "probably see a slew of new deals.

"It looks like they're priming the pump for it," he said.

In recent deals, Qwest Corp.'s $750 million of 6.125% $25-par senior notes due 2053 were admitted to the New York Stock Exchange.

The deal priced May 14. The ticker symbol is "CTY."

At midday, the issue was trading at $25.01, compared to opening levels of $25.05.

Also listed were AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd.'s $200 million of 5.5% series D noncumulative perpetual preferreds, a deal that came May 13.

The ticker symbol is "AXSPD." The preferreds were trading at $24.78 at midday, up 28 cents from the previous close.

In the secondary, a trader said that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paper was "all popping" again. The securities had risen in the previous session on the back of a decent home sales report from the Commerce Department.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.