A Quirk of Japan’s Credit Market Is Hurting Some New Debt Sales
- Percent of Japan firms selling debt on Fridays highest ever
- Better for rare issuers to avoid busy days: Manulife’s Oshida
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A quirk of Japan’s credit market that results in companies often selling bonds on Fridays is becoming more entrenched, hurting demand for some deals that get lost in the flood of offerings all on the same day.
Unlike credit markets elsewhere where issuance often falls off on Fridays, the day has long been busy in Japan and the pandemic is making it even more so. Japanese firms traditionally take five days from launching to pricing bonds. That leaves Friday as the default for avoiding deals stretching across weekends, when news developments could skew prices -- a growing threat amid Covid-19 headlines.