US high-grade logs biggest month ever

摘要

The US high-grade market logged its biggest month ever in May, topping US$160bn as borrowers locked up financing ahead of any possible rate hike coming this summer from the Fed. With one session still to go this Tuesday, the primary market has already bested the previous record of May 2015, helped by Dell's US$20bn deal - the fourth largest corporate bond ever. Borrowers were keen to jump in before the Fed and next month's UK referendum on whether to quit the European Union, two significant risks that could upend the markets. "We knew May was going to be busy, but thought it would be around US$115bn," one syndicate banker told IFR. "Everyone wants to get ahead of Brexit and the Federal Reserve meeting."