Companies raised more than $100bn on the bond market in the first week of this year as finance chiefs kicked off an effort to lock in low borrowing costs before benchmark interest rates start to climb.
Global corporate bond issuance reached $101bn in the year to January 7, with US deals reaching a record pace. The global haul trailed only a blockbuster $118bn start to 2021, which was the highest on Refinitiv records going back 19 years.
The corporate bond market typically revs up at the start of the year after a sleepy period around the holidays in late December. But the rush of new deals offers an early glimpse at the barrage of issuance expected early this year, as companies look to tap debt markets before major central banks begin raising short-term interest rates, something that increases the cost of borrowing across the economy.