Morning Commentary: Transocean active on quiet morning

By Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., July 15 – It was another quiet morning in the convertible secondary space with many on the sidelines as growth stocks remained under pressure.

Equity benchmarks launched the day firmly in the red with the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite leading losses.

While the Dow Jones industrial average popped into positive territory shortly before 11 a.m. ET with a 13 point, or 0.04% gain, the S&P 500 index was down 0.29% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.58%.

There was $65 million in reported volume about one hour into the session with few names seeing concentrated trading activity.

Transocean Ltd.’s 4% convertible notes due 2025, an off-the-run-issue that rarely trades, was among the most active in the secondary space on Thursday.

The notes were changing hands at 109.75 versus an equity price of $3.99 early in the session, according to a market source.

There was $4 million in reported volume.

The offshore drilling contractor’s stock was changing hands at $3.92, a decrease of 0.38%, shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

Crude oil futures were taking a hit early Thursday on the heels of an OPEC agreement on oil production, which sparked concern about a surplus.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures traded down to $72.51, a decrease of $0.63 or 0.86%, and Brent crude oil futures traded down to $74.17, a decrease of $0.59 or 0.79%, shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

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