The TwentyFour Blog

France has been the primary focus of the European rates markets in the past week, with domestic political risk and debt concerns adding to a general sell-off across government bonds.

E-commerce platform InPost has entered the European high yield (HY) market this week with a new seven-year senior secured bond as part of a €3bn financing package to help fund its acquisition by an Advent led consortium.

Looking at the sharp moves in government bond markets in recent days, one would be forgiven for thinking we are seeing some level of forced selling that is pushing valuations lower.

Prediction markets suggest the Democrats are capable of gaining a majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives at the US midterm elections on November 3, with Polymarket putting the chance of a “sweep” at 64% as of Friday morning.

The topic of banking “deregulation” has come back to the fore this year, mainly fuelled by initiatives from the US authorities.

The importance of “term premium” in discussions about yield curves has been on the rise this year.

The latest FOMC meeting delivered more than a rate hike. Chair Warsh's clear hawkish message that inflation has been too high for too long helped restore confidence in the Fed's commitment to tackling inflation, with important implications for bond markets and rate expectations.

The Rendez-Vous de Septembre (RVS) reinsurance conference was held last week in Monte Carlo. This annual event began in 1957 and is the largest gathering in the reinsurance sector, bringing together participants across the insurance and reinsurance market for bilateral discussions ahead of annual renewals (with a major share of contracts renewing on January 1).

On Thursday, the European Central Bank (ECB) delivered a well telegraphed 25bp rate hike and updated its projections for growth and inflation.