By Lester Pimentel and Valerie Rota
NEW YORK, USA (Bloomberg): Jamaica has sold $350 million of bonds maturing in 2039, suggesting investor demand is picking up for emerging-market securities after last week's rout.
Jamaica sold the 8 percent bonds to yield 3.46 percentage points over similar-maturity US Treasuries, or about 8.12 percent. The government increased the size of the offering by $100 million from $250 million initially planned. Citigroup Inc. managed the sale.
The sale comes amid a rebound in emerging-market bonds that was sparked by gains in global equity markets. The average yield spread for developing nations' bonds over US Treasuries narrowed 3 basis points today, or 0.03 percentage point, to 1.87 percentage points at 4:20 p.m. in New York, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s EMBI Plus index.
"There are some signs that the risk-aversion concern is over," said Adam Weiner, who manages emerging-market debt at New York-based OppenheimerFunds Inc., which has $250 billion under management. "There wasn't a clear driver for the recent weakness."
Jamaica's credit rating was affirmed by Standard & Poor's on Thursday, citing the country's "commitment to fiscal discipline and debt reduction." S&P rates the country's long-term debt B, four levels below investment grade.
"It's a very well priced issuance," said Dario Pedrajo, who manages about $100 million at Kapax Investment Advisers LLC in Miami. He said Thursday morning he had planned to buy some of the bonds. |
