High-grade primary action quiets ahead of holiday; light December volume eyed; Westpac stable

By Cristal Cody

Tupelo, Miss., Nov. 27 – High-grade supply quieted on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving Day holiday with little market activity expected until December.

The bond markets will be closed Thursday and will close early at 2 p.m. ET on Friday for the holiday.

Week to date, high-grade issuers priced $3.75 billion of dollar-denominated notes.

Up to about $5 billion of investment-grade paper was anticipated to price this week.

November corporate investment-grade bond supply totaled more than $101 billion, outpacing October volume of $65.43 billion and bringing year to date supply to $1.09 trillion, according to Prospect News data.

Looking ahead to December, volume is forecast to remain light with about $20 billion to $30 billion of issuance likely, syndicate sources said.

After the holiday break, Experian Finance plc will hold fixed-income investor calls on Monday for a dollar-denominated Rule 144A and Regulation S offering of 10-year senior notes (Baa1/A-/), a market source said.

In the secondary market, bonds were mixed over the session.

Westpac Banking Corp.’s 2.35% senior notes due Feb. 19, 2025 were flat on the day but have recovered about 5 bps since Friday.

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