Market ‘basically flat’ in trading; AmTrust’s recent 7.25% noncumulatives list on NYSE

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Phoenix, July 7 – Preferred stocks were “basically flat all day,” a market source said after the close of the first post-holiday trading session.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index closed down 2 basis points after being up 6 bps at mid-morning.

“The market is pretty flat across the board, slightly up,” a trader said, adding that he had expected at least a small sell-off after Thursday’s jobs number. But with the holiday, it seemed like the fresh data had little impact.

As for the new issue market, the trader said that he “wouldn’t be surprised if we see a couple deals this week or next week.”

However, no new deals were announced on Monday.

One market source noted that while overall volume was “not great,” it was “not nearly as bad as I was expecting.”

“The market has some things to think about,” he added. Interest rates, of course, were one, but upcoming bank earnings and a rebalance of the Standard & Poor’s U.S. Preferred Stock index was another.

“One of the biggest [preferred] ETFs uses that as a benchmark,” he said.

In recent deals, AmTrust Financial Services Inc.’s $100 million of 7.25% series B noncumulative perpetual preferreds were admitted for trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

The issue priced June 25. The ticker symbol is “AFSIPB.”

The shares closed at $24.94, up from the intraday low of $24.80.

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