-- Morgan Stanley became the latest big Wall Street bank to tap the US investment-grade market Wednesday after reporting earnings, as strong investor demand helps lenders borrow at lower yields than would have been possible at the start of the month.The lender sold $8 billion of bonds in four parts, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The longest portion of the offering, an 11-year security, yields 1.17 percentage point above Treasuries after initial discussions of around 1.
JPMorgan, Wells Fargo & Co. and Goldman have raised a combined $16.5 billion after reporting second-quarter earnings. Wednesday’s deal by Morgan Stanley turbocharged volume from the six biggest banks past the 10-year July average of roughly $17 billion. That enabled Goldman to tighten pricing 28 basis points on both tranches, offering investors just 2 basis points to 3 basis point in new issue premium, or the extra yield that high-grade borrowers have to offer to sell new investment-grade debt, wrote Smith.