Primary halts as blizzard hits northeast; Citigroup tightens; Home Depot better; Apple soft

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

Virginia Beach, Jan. 27 – The investment-grade primary bond market was empty of new deals on Tuesday, as a blizzard pummeled the northeastern United States.

Sources were expecting a quiet primary session, with driving bans in place and public transportation suspended in New York City.

Looking forward, another muted session is expected for Wednesday, as the Federal Reserve wraps up its Federal Open Market Committee’s two-day policy meeting.

So far, the market has seen around $8.6 billion of new issuance this week, a far cry from what sources were predicting to be around $25 billion to $30 billion of supply.

Investment-grade bonds headed out mostly unchanged on the day, while credit spreads were weaker, sources said.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade index eased 1 basis point to a spread of 67 bps.

Citigroup Inc.’s 2.5% notes due 2019 firmed 4 bps to 5 bps in secondary trading.

Home Depot, Inc.’s 4.4% notes due 2045 tightened about 1 bp.

Apple Inc.’s notes (Aa1/AA+/) headed out flat to softer.

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