email rounding up the latestBorrowers in the $10tn US corporate bond market are shying away from longer-term debt in a bet that soaring borrowing costs are unlikely to last.
“I think that’s just a function of how expensive it’s gotten for companies to borrow versus where it was just a year-and-a-half or so ago,” he added. “You don’t want to be paying this high coupon for any longer than you have to.” The shorter maturities come as US interest rates have climbed from near-zero early last year to a range of 5.25 to 5.5 per cent. In turn, investment-grade yields have shot to almost 6 per cent, from lows of 1.9 per cent in late 2020 when Covid-era stimulus was still washing through the financial system.
Junk bond issuance has climbed by a third to $108bn this year, compared with a particularly weak 2022. However, some market participants said shorter-dated borrowing reflected investor demand more than companies’ preferences.