US primary market issuances saw a massive drop last week to just $2.4bn vs. $22.1bn in the week prior. IG issuances stood at $1.6bn vs. $16.4bn the week prior, led by MassMutual’s $600mn deal and Pricoa’s $350mn issuance. In the HY space, there were no new bond deals as compared to $5.2bn in the week prior. The remaining $800mn in deals were from unrated issuances. In North America, there were a total of 21 upgrades and 34 downgrades across the three major rating agencies last week. As per Lipper data, US IG funds saw $806mn in outflows in the week ended 26 August, after three consecutive weeks of inflows. HY funds saw even larger outflows at $4.6bn. In the LatAm region, there were no new issuances vs. $340mn in the week prior. In South America, there were 2 upgrades and 3 downgrades across the major rating agencies. EU Corporate G3 issuance fell to $22bn vs. $32bn one week prior – Palladium Global’s $3.25bn deal led the table, followed by Deutsche Bank and BNP Paribas raising €1.5bn each. Across the European region, there were 12 upgrades and 20 downgrades. The GCC G3 primary bond market saw $368mn in issuances with First Abu Dhabi Bank raising the entire amount. This was the first issuance from the region over the last six weeks. Across the Middle East/Africa region, there were 6 upgrades and 4 downgrades across the three major rating agencies. APAC ex-Japan G3 region issuances rose to $1.7bn vs. $200mn in the week prior with NAB raising €750mn, followed by Zhengzhou Urban’s $350mn deal. In the APAC region, there were 2 upgrades and 9 downgrades combined across the three rating agencies last week.
