08/08/20 18:06:04 97XBHW9H
Emerging debt-Asian bond spreads widen; new debt sales eyed
Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:12am EDT
URLﾘﾝｸ(www.reuters.com)
HONG KONG, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Asian bond spreads widened on Wednesday for a second
session on the back of data showing rising inflationary pressures in the United States
and continued concerns about the health of the global financial sector.
Regional spreads are unlikely to tighten in the near term, traders said, given
the continued risk aversion and what could be a heavy slate of new debt sales in September.
South Korea mandated six banks for a planned sovereign debt sale that could reach
$1 billion, while Wing Hang Bank is meeting Asian investors this week for a potential
dollar bond sale, sources told Reuters on Wednesday.
The two issuers join a growing pipeline of potential debt sales in September,
especially from South Korea, that are expected to include POSCO Engineering
and Construction as well as as Korea National Housing Corp.
"You have a lot of concerns in the market these days, so it would be hard to see
spreads tighten anytime soon," said a Hong Kong-based trader.
"New issuance is obviously going to have an impact on spreads giving that any
new issue will have to offer concessions above existing spread to investors," he added.