Outlook for the week
We view high yield bonds as more favourable given historically cheap valuations and higher buffers against rising interest rates.
Key economic releases for the week
Last Week Summary
Despite a short week due to the Good Friday holiday, demand in the Asia primary bond market is still evident with average Initial Price Guidance (IPG) Tightening increasing 10.1bps to 36.2bps and New Issue Premium (NIP) dipping 2.4bps to -5.4bps. 2 jumbo deals were priced last week, totaling USD 2.4bn (36% of total weekly issuance volume). There were a diverse variety of issuers across the first 3 days of last week, ranging from KNOC to the Republic of Maldives’ US$200mn 5yr sukuk at 10.5%. Resorts World Las Vegas’s new 10yr bonds proved to be the best performing new issue, trading 22bps tighter. US$6.595bn of bonds were issued from 12 deals last week. Breakdown: Investment Grade: US$5.45bn, High Yield: US$1.145bn.
Timothy covers credit analysis of local and foreign bonds. Previously an equity dealer, he handled equity trade execution and portfolio management. He has presented seminars for organisations such as SIAS, SPH and IRAS, commentated live market updates for 93.8FM, and authored investment articles for the Business Times newspaper. He graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting & Finance from the University of Western Australia.