Bond market focuses on Fed; Lloyds, IADB, Scentre price; Verizon firms; Wal-Mart softens

By Aleesia Forni and Cristal Cody

Virginia Beach, Oct. 29 – The investment-grade bond market was subdued on Wednesday, with all eyes focused on the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement following its two-day meeting.

As expected, the Federal Reserve announced that it would end its monthly bond purchasing program during the session.

Meanwhile, the primary hosted Lloyds Banking Group plc, Inter-American Development Bank and Scentre Group.

Lloyds Banking Group was forced to widen price talk for its new issue by around 10 basis points compared to initial thoughts, market sources noted. The new $1 billion issue ultimately priced on top of talk.

However, Scentre Group saw a solid reception from investors for its $750 million offering.

The deal was upsized from initial thoughts of $500 million and sold around 15 bps tighter than initial guidance.

The primary also saw Inter-American Development Bank price a $500 million tap of its existing three-year bonds in line with price talk.

Investment-grade bonds were mixed in the secondary market over the session, sources said.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade series 23 index eased 1 bp to a spread of 66 bps.

Verizon Communications Inc.’s 4.15% notes due 2024 tightened 6 bps over the day, a source said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s 3.3% notes due 2024 that were reopened in early October eased 2 bps in trading, according to a market source.

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