Calm lasted just long enough for borrowers to sprint through it. Investment-grade US issuers sold more than USD 65 bn of bonds on Tuesday — the busiest single day on record — as companies rushed to lock in funding while markets briefly steadied on hopes that the Iran war might not widen, the Financial Times reports.

Amazon led the dash: The company launched 11 USD tranches to raise USD 37 bn, upsized from initial guidance after drawing roughly USD 123 bn in orders, while also preparing an inaugural EUR 10 bn eurosale as it leans further into debt to fund AI infrastructure.

The queue behind it was unusually crowded. Nearly 12 blue-chip issuers — including Honeywell Aerospace and the finance arms of Toyota Motor Corporation and Ford Motor Company — piled in at once, pushing issuance past the previous one-day record set when Verizon Communications sold USD 49 bn in 2013.

Why the urgency? Because in this market, windows barely stay open. One fixed-income trader told the FT that issuances have shifted from being planned “week by week to hour by hour” — stability now comes in tradable bursts.

That urgency follows a week when borrowers mostly stayed on the sidelines. Bloomberg reported that all companies preparing to tap the US market on Monday stood down, while parts of Europe’s pipeline also paused as default risks rose amid the regional war and increasing oil prices.

The repricing underneath has been quick: Europe’s iTraxx Crossover moved above 300 bps for the first time since June, and Asian investment-grade credit default swaps also widened — a reminder that investors are charging more again to insure against repayment risk.

And the cushion is thinning fast: The global high-grade credit index has already shed almost all of its 2026 gains after being up 1.6% just over a week ago, leaving issuers to borrow whenever calm returns before oil, yields, or headlines close the window again.

MARKETS THIS MORNING-

Asia-Pacific markets are a sea of red in early trading this morning after Brent crude jumped beyond the USD 100 bbl mark on reports of fresh attacks on tankers in Iraqi water, raising fears of a wider supply disruption beyond the Strait of Hormuz. It is shaping up to be an equally volatile day of trading on Wall Street, with futures down.

EGX30

47,195

-1.2% (YTD: +12.8%)

USD (CBE)

Buy 51.92

Sell 52.06

USD (CIB)

Buy 51.92

Sell 52.02

None

Interest rates (CBE)

19.00% deposit

20.00% lending

Tadawul

10,942

+0.1% (YTD: +4.3%)

ADX

9,865

-1.3% (YTD: -1.3%)

DFM

5,726

-2.4% (YTD: -5.3%)

S&P 500

6,776

-0.1% (YTD: -1.0%)

FTSE 100

10,354

-0.6% (YTD: +4.3%)

Euro Stoxx 50

5,795

-0.7% (YTD: +0.1%)

Brent crude

USD 100.55

+9.3%

Natural gas (Nymex)

USD 3.26

+1.6%

Gold

USD 5,160

-0.4%

BTC

USD 70,348

+0.6% (YTD: -19.7%)

S&P Egypt Sovereign Bond Index

1,031

-0.2% (YTD: +3.8%)

S&P MENA Bond & Sukuk

152.05

+0.4% (YTD: +0.1%)

VIX (Volatility Index)

24.23

-2.8% (YTD: +62.21%)

THE CLOSING BELL-

The EGX30 fell 1.2% at yesterday’s close on turnover of EGP 5.5 bn (16.0% below the 90-day average). International investors were the sole net sellers. The index is up 12.8% YTD.

In the green: Egypt Aluminum (+6.5%), Abu Qir Fertilizers (+6.4%), and ADIB (+5.2%).

In the red: Eastern Company (-7.5%), CIB (-3.2%), and Fawry (-2.8%).

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