Morning Commentary: Match Group convertible notes in focus in early secondary trading

By Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., Sept. 7 – It was a quiet return from the Labor Day weekend for the convertible bond market with many accounts out in celebration of the Jewish New Year.

While the primary market is expected to remain dormant on Tuesday, there is an active pipeline of deals, sources said.

Some primary market activity is expected before the end of the week. However, the floodgates are not expected to fully open until mid- to late September, sources said.

Meanwhile, there was $57 million in reported volume about one hour into the session with few names seeing concentrated trading activity.

Equity markets were mixed early Tuesday.

While the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 index were firmly in the red early in the session, the Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 index wavered between gains and losses.

The Dow was down 289 points, or 0.81%, and the S&P 500 was down 0.35%; however, the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.10% and the Russell 2000 was up 0.08% shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

Match Group Inc.’s 0.875% convertible notes due 2026 were in focus early Tuesday as stock skyrocketed following news that the company would be added to the S&P 500 index.

The notes were up more than 10 points outright as stock surged more than 7%.

The 0.875% notes were changing hands just shy of 190 versus a stock price of $158.85 early in the session, according to a market source.

There was about $5 million in reported volume.

Match Group’s stock was trading at $159.04, an increase of 7.32%, shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

© 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.