Morning Commentary: Consumers Energy markets bonds; Apple softens; Oshkosh plans investor calls

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., May 1 – Consumers Energy Co. prepared early Tuesday to tap the high-grade primary market with a first mortgage bond offering.

In other market activity, split-rated issuer Oshkosh Corp. (Ba1/BBB/BBB-) plans to hold fixed income investor calls during the session for a possible bond deal, a source said. BofA Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC are the arrangers.

Otherwise, reported deal action was light over the morning following more than $8 billion of supply on Monday from issuers including Daimler Finance North America LLC, Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC, Texas Instruments Inc., Indiana Michigan Power Co., DTE Electric Co. and Kansas City Southern.

Market sources forecast about $25 billion to $30 billion of supply this week and about $130 billion to as much as $160 billion of volume in May.

Secondary trading also was heavy on Monday with $20.92 billion of investment-grade issues traded, according to Trace.

Apple Inc.’s bonds (Aa1/AA+) traded mostly softer at the start of the day ahead of the company’s second-quarter earnings release after the market closes on Tuesday.

Apple’s 3% notes due Nov. 13, 2027 were quoted at 94.72, down from 94.97 on Monday and 95.02 on Friday, a source said.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based computer, mobile communication and media devices company sold $1.5 billion of the notes on Nov. 6, 2017 at 99.709 to yield 3.034% and a spread of 72 basis points over Treasuries.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.