Preferreds firm after jobs report; Morgan Stanley lists; GSEs busy again; Vanguard weak

By Stephanie N. Rotondo

Seattle, Feb. 3 – Preferred stocks were up on Friday, following equities higher in the wake of a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report.

The Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities index ended 29 basis points higher. By comparison, the S&P 500 index neared historic highs, and the Dow Jones industrial average popped above the 20,000 mark again.

The U.S. Labor Department reported Friday that non-farm payrolls increased by 277,000 in January, better than the 175,000 increase expected.

Wage growth, however, remained tepid, rising only 0.1%.

The markets were also boosted – led largely by financials – by the new administration’s orders to look into repealing financial regulations, including Dodd-Frank and the Volcker Rule.

As for the day’s preferred dealings, Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc.’s $1 billion of 5.85% series K fixed-to-floating rate noncumulative preferreds – a deal priced Jan. 24 – began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “MSPrK.”

The preferreds ended the day at $25.41, up 11 cents. Over 3.41 million of the preferreds were exchanged.

Meanwhile, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac paper once again took over as the dominating securities. The GSE-linked preferreds continued to trend upward.

Vanguard Natural Resources LLC was Thursday’s most active name after the company announced it had filed for bankruptcy. The name was still on the active – and weaker – side in Friday trading.

© 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.