This page is dedicated to research articles with secondary market data provided by our research partner MarketAxess. For further information please contact Dan Barnes.
Home ‘BoB’ – Barnes on Bonds
‘BoB’ – Barnes on Bonds
Shielding from exploding issuance
US fixed income markets saw issuance in Q1 2024 hit US$2.5 trillion according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), an increase of 26.1% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ).
The trade body reported that four out...
A great vintage for bid-ask spreads
This year’s bid-ask spreads in US investment grade are half those of last year, prompting much celebration on the buy side, but clearly having an effect on dealers.
Looking at bid-ask spread data from...
Bid-ask spreads drop 25% on average in many markets
The cost of liquidity as measured by the bid-ask spread in bond trading has fallen by approximately 25% since the start of the year, according to data from MarketAxess’s CP+ pricing service.
In real...
Great Expectations (on rate cuts)
The latest BofA Global Fund Manager Survey has found that 76% of respondents expect two or more Fed cuts in 2024 versus 8% who expect to see no cuts.
That said, but investors are reportedly...
MarketAxess industry viewpoint
Comparing portfolio trading and list RFQ TCA
By Gio Accurso, Grant Lowensohn and Jessica Hung, MarketAxess
Highlights and objectives
The MarketAxess Research team investigates any key drivers of Portfolio Trading (PT) Trading Cost Analysis (TCA) outcomes,...
High yield bond issuance relative to liquidity
A report by the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has found that primary issuance of European high yield (HY) bonds in 2023 reached a value of €66 billion on 185 deals, which...
Volumes drop off as Q1 ends, but liquidity still cheap
A broad decline of trading volumes across European & US corporate bond and emerging market debt trading coincided with end of the first quarter of the year, according to data from MarketAxess’s TraX, which...
European investment grade seeing smaller, cheaper trades
European investment grade bond traders are seeing a falling bid-ask spread, and a rising trade count since the start of 2024, according to MarketAxess’s CP+ and TraX, which follows activity across multiple markets.
This points...
Issuing at the top of the market
The high levels of bond issuance this year, made at what is widely expected to be peak interest rates, are potentially building up high levels of credit risk for issuers.
Although issuance has been focused...
AFME and IA agree on UK consolidated bond tape
The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has reached an agreement with the Investment Association (IA) on a proposal for a future UK post-trade transparency model for corporate and sovereign bonds.
The framework...
What is driving down EM trading costs?
Analysis of trade size and bid-ask spread data from MarketAxess’s CP+ pricing feed and Trax market data, which tracks activity across markets, indicates that since the end of January, average trade sizes and bid-ask...
Germany’s rates market comfort
Germany’s government bond market is in rude health, according to the latest analysis of sovereign debt by Andy Hill, director at the International Capital Markets Association (ICMA), despite having the loosest primary market obligations...
