Primary quiet; heavy volume forecast; JPMorgan firms; Stifel tightens; Citigroup better

By Cristal Cody

Eureka Springs, Ark., July 15 – Investment-grade issuers stood back on Friday, while issuance is expected to jump in the week ahead as banks come out of earnings blackout.

About $30 billion to $40 billion of volume is forecast ahead of the Federal Reserve’s July 26-27 policy meeting, according to a market source.

New investment-grade bonds that priced over the week were mixed in secondary trading on Friday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s 2.95% notes due 2026 traded late Friday afternoon at 142 bps bid, 139 bps offered, according to a market source.

The company sold $3 billion of the notes (A3/A-A+) on Thursday at a spread of 145 bps over Treasuries.

Stifel Financial Corp.’s 4.25% senior notes due 2024 headed out 10 basis points better than issuance on Friday.

Comcast Corp.’s notes were mixed, trading as much as 2 bps tighter to 1 bp softer on the long end, a source said.

Citigroup Inc.’s paper traded mostly flat to about 3 bps better on Friday after the company beat second-quarter earnings expectations of $1.10 a share.

Citi reported income of $4 billion, or $1.24 a share, for the quarter ended June 30, compared to $4.8 billion, or $1.51 a share, in the same period a year ago.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade index closed the day about 2 bps weaker at a spread of 72 bps.

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