Morning Commentary: Convertibles secondary market quiet; Booking notes in focus early

By Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., Aug. 19 – The convertibles secondary space was quiet early in Thursday’s session as equities struggled to find direction following Wednesday’s late-day sell-off.

Equity benchmarks were largely flat about one hour into the session.

While there was $93 million in reported volume, few convertible bond issues saw concentrated trading activity.

Booking Holdings Inc.’s 0.75% convertible notes due 2025 topped the volume charts early in the session with a large buyer in the market.

The 0.75% convertible notes were trading around 137 with $25 million on the tape, a source said.

Booking’s stock was changing hands at $2,074.67, a decrease of 0.56%, shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

The 0.75% notes have been active over the past week as the travel technology company’s 0.9% convertible notes due Sept. 15, 2021 approach their maturity.

While the two tranches usually trade side by side, the 0.9% convertible notes were not active early Thursday.

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