CEEMEA OPEN: Two new additions to the pipeline to kick off the week

• USTs richer across the curve during Asia-Pac trade, although off best levels which saw the 10-year yield drop to 4.2852%, all within the recent range.

• The US government didn't shutdown and Treasury Secretary Bessent noted that he wasn't worried about recent market moves, saying corrections are healthy. SPX minis are down by 0.62%.

• Asia-Pac equity markets are higher, led by KOSPI (+1.7%). Shanghai marginally up.

• This after China's February hard data beat forecasts. IP was strong, retail sales accelerated (the government also announced a strategy - a special action plan - aimed at supporting consumption, presser due 7GMT) giving domestic demand a boost and FAI growth was the highest since April 2024. The weak spot was new and used home prices which continued to drop m/m.

• European equity futures are mixed. Dax/FTSE up, EStoxx50 a tad down. Jun25 Bunds/OATs both in the green buy around 15 ticks. JGBs ended higher.

• Brent on the front foot circa $71. There have been US-led airstrikes on Yemen Houthi positions.

Fresh in the CEEMEA Pipeline

On the Radar

• The Arab Energy Fund, a Multilateral Impact Financial Institution (rebranded from Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation “APICORP”), rated Aa2 (stable) by Moody’s, AA- (stable) by S&P, and AA+ (stable) by Fitch, is advertising a USD-denominated 5yr bmk Reg S Senior Unsecured dual-listed Formosa bond.
  • TAEF has mandated BNP Paribas SA, Taipei Branch* as the Sole Bookrunner.
  • The issuer was last in the markets just last month, where it priced a USD650mn 5yr Sen Unsec bond at SOFR m/s+ 80bps, in from SOFT m/s+ 90bps area.

• Emirates Islamic Bank PJSC ("Emirates Islamic"), rated A+ (stable) by Fitch, a leading Islamic bank in the UAE and 99.9% owned by Emirates NBD Bank PJSC (“Emirates NBD”), has arranged a series of fixed income investor calls commencing today (March 17) to advertise a fixed rate USD-denominated bml Reg S 5yr Senior Unsecured Sukuk.
  • EIB has mandated Dubai Islamic Bank, Emirates NBD Capital, HSBC, Mashreq, Sharjah Islamic Bank and Standard Chartered Bank as Joint Lead Managers and Joint Bookrunners.
  • A link the net roadshow can be found here.
  • EIB was last active in the markets last month, where it closed on a USD1bn PNC6 AT1 note at 6.25%, in from the 6.750% area IPTs on the back of USD2.5bn in final demand.

• It’s worth noting that Romania plans to tap the samurai bond market and sell more sustainable notes again this year to complement its traditional funding sources, according to a member of the Finance Ministry.
  • Note, Romania has already sold EUR2.8bn in euro-denominated bonds and USD1.25bn in dollar debt in February. FinMin Andries has said that another batch of green bonds may come in 2H25.

Priced Deals

• No new priced deals.

What to watch on Monday

• In CEEMEA, Czech PPI Industrial, Turkish Budget Balance, South Africa BER Inflation Expectations, (08GMT), Czech C/A Balance (09GMT), Polish Core CPI, C/A and Trade Balance (13GMT) and Romania C/A Balance.

• In the US, February retail sales (12.30GMT). After January's -08.% m/m, the control group is forecast to marginally rebound, by 0.3% m/m. The headline dropped 0.9% m/m at the start of the year, it is seen +0.6% m/m. Eating and drinking out had a positive January. This a proxy for services spend in an otherwise dominant goods report. Still, a weak overall outturn will have the market worrying about the state of the US consumer. Note January business inventories and the March NAHB (14GMT). Latter seen at a steady 42 after the 5 point January drop, which is towards the bottom of the 12-month range and below the long-term average.

• There are no central bank talkers on the schedule.

Wider market Sentiment

• USD Index at 103.73
• UST 2yr/10yr at 4.013%/4.299%
• Bund 2yr/10yr at 2.177%/2.873%
• Brent at $71.05/brl

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