Looking at the top 10 most active bonds, sovereign papers such as the MGS and GII as well as BNM notes continued to rule the top 10 most actively traded bonds during the week.
With regards to the All Bond Index Performance, weekly gain was 0.02 per cent from 122.57 to 122.59 points. Government securities curve steepened from the belly onwards as market players took profit ahead of extended Hari Raya holidays next week.
The US Treasury yield curve demonstrated the same bearish steepening phenomenon.
The largest issuance seen for the week is by YTL Power International Bhd, which was rated AA1 by Rating Agency Malaysia.
It issued RM2.2 billion worth of seven year bonds at a coupon rate of 4.35 per cent per annum.
The rating actions of the week included the long-term rating of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd’s existing RM500 million Sukuk Ijarah Commercial Paper/Medium-Term Notes Programme (2007/2012) being upgraded from AA2 to AA1 on August 22 while the rating outlook was revised from positive to stable.
Meanwhile, the short-term rating of the debt facility was reaffirmed at P1.
The upgrade for the long-term rating was premised on KLK’s solid operating and financial track records over the past five years.
On the same day MARC placed its AAID long-term rating on MTD InfraPerdana Bhd’s RM700.0 million Islamic Medium Term Notes (IMTN) Programme on MARCWatch Developing.
MARC also placed its rating of AAIS on Alloy Properties Sdn Bhd’s (formerly known as Haluan Gigih Sdn Bhd) Sukuk Musyarakah Medium Term Note (IMTN) Programme of up to RM240 million on MARCWatch Negative.
On August 26, RAM Ratings placed the P1 rating of Esso Malaysia Bhd’s RM300 million Islamic Commercial Papers Issuance Programme (2011/2018) (Sukuk Programme) on Rating Watch, with a negative outlook.
The Rating Watch was premised on RAM Rating’s concerns that Esso’s credit profile would deteriorate after the exit of its controlling shareholder, Exxon Mobil Corporation, following Philippines-based San Miguel Corporation’s proposed acquisition of ExxonMobil’s entire 65 per cent-stake in Esso.