Morning Commentary: Convertibles secondary quiet as end of quarter nears; Shift4 active

By Abigail W. Adams

Portland, Me., March 30 – It was a quiet morning in the convertibles secondary space on Wednesday as the market zeroes in on the final days of the first quarter.

Equity markets opened the day lower as optimism surrounding a cease-fire in the Ukraine diminished.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 33 points, or 0.09%, the S&P 500 index was down 0.38%, the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.55% and the Russell 2000 index was down 0.43% shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

There was $84 million of convertibles trading on the tape a little more than one hour into the session with no clear focus to the trading activity, a source said.

While end of quarter clean-up usually sparks some movement in the secondary space, much of the rebalancing may have already been done, a source said.

Shift4 Payments Inc.’s 0% convertible notes due 2025 were active with the notes holding onto their outright gains after a strong move the previous session.

The 0% convertible notes continued to trade around 107.5 early in the session as stock wavered between gains and losses.

There was about $5 million in reported volume.

Shift4’s stock was changing hands at $65.85, an increase of 0.57%, shortly before 11 a.m. ET.

The convertible notes jumped 3.5 points outright the previous session as stock rallied more than 7% alongside broader markets.

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