Steady high-grade volume eyed; SoCal Edison holds calls; new issues mixed; CVS widens

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., March 8 – High-grade bond supply quieted on Friday after a strong week of issuance that totaled about $40 billion.

Volume surpassed market expectations of about $25 billion to $30 billion of supply on deals that included Pfizer Inc.’s $5 billion five-part offering of senior notes on Monday, Merck & Co., Inc.’s $5 billion of notes sold in four tranches on Tuesday and Dell Technologies Inc.’s $4.75 billion three-part deal on Wednesday.

In the week ahead, steady deal volume is forecast with about $25 billion of volume expected by syndicate sources.

In market activity on Friday, Southern California Edison Co. (A3/A-/A) held fixed income investor calls, a source said.

Barclays, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, PNC Capital Markets, LLC and Wells Fargo Securities LLC were the arrangers.

Southern California Edison is a Rosemead, Calif.-based electric utility company and subsidiary of Edison International.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 31 index closed the day more than 1 basis point softer at a spread of 65 bps following weaker employment data.

Meanwhile, CVS Health Corp.’s senior notes (Baa2/BBB+) that priced as part of its $40 billion nine-tranche deal a year ago softened about 10 bps to 20 bps in secondary trading over the week, a market source said.

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