Successful bondissue for Cyprus
France and Cyprus took full advantage of a market supercharged by expectations of more monetary stimulus from the European Central Bank to print syndicated bonds on Tuesday.
France had garnered a maximum of 33.5 billion euros of demand for a 7-billion-euro 30-year bond sale, a lead manager told Reuters, before pricing the deal at seven basis points over its outstanding 2048 bonds.
Cyprus too took full advantage of the strong bid for bonds to price its longest ever issue, a 1-billion-euro 15-year note which came at 175 basis points over mid-swaps in a further sign of how far the country has come since it returned to the capital markets in 2014, International Financing Review reported.
“This is a powerful indication of trust in the stability and prospects of our country,” Cypriot Finance Minister Harris Georgiades said on Twitter.
Recent bond sales by eurozone sovereigns have been well-subscribed, and borrowing costs have fallen.
French borrowing costs, for example, are near the lowest levels in well over two years.
“There is a lot of demand across the board: We saw Italy’s 30-year get 41 billion euro of orders, and the French spread is quite wide after the ‘yellow vest’ protests,” DZ Bank strategist Daniel Lenz said, referring to the protests in France against President Emmanuel Macron’s policies.
[Reuters]
