Bond issuance drought continues

As predicted last week, June ended with no public issuance in the domestic corporate bond market.

It is now six weeks since a major bank - NAB - tapped the public bond markets. Bank of Queensland was the last bank to do so, in the last week of May.

The volatility that has been seen in global equity, bond and credit markets, as each has been sold off, rallied, then been sold off again, has ensured that corporate bond issuers have stayed away.

The ubiquitous kangaroo issuers, the sovereigns and supra-nationals, have also been conspicuous by their absence. The plunging Australian dollar has ensured that there is no international interest in new SSA bonds.

This situation is unlikely to change until the dollar stabilises at a new level. Some market commentators believe the dollar is now set to stabilise at current levels; others believe it is still on its way to 85 US cents.