Xtrakter, the fixed income market utility, released figures today highlighting an increase in asset backed securities (ABS) new issuance of 158% (USD 135 billion) in Q2 when compared to Q1 08. Overall fixed income new issuance increased by 80.1% (USD 452 billion) to a total USD 1.2 trillion for the same period. ABS accounted for 18.1% (USD 219.6 billion) of total fixed income new issuance in Q2 08.
When compared against Q2 07 total fixed income new issuance figures increased by 38.4% (USD 337 billion). “This data clearly highlights two trends taking place in the capital market … banks are seeking to access new liquidity by undertaking new issuance, secondly they are seeking to re-balance their books … with regard to the level of assets they hold, while at the same time lowering their risk positions,” said Kevin Milne, Chief Executive, Xtrakter.
The Euro was again the preferred currency in Q2 08 capturing 51.8% (USD 628.8 billion), US Dollar was chosen for 29.5% (USD 358.5 billion) and Pounds Sterling was selected for 10.2% (USD 124.1 billion) of fixed income new issuance. The following currency changes were also observed when comparing Q2 08 with Q2 07:
- AED – Arab Emirate Dirham rose by 100% to USD 5.8 billion
- BRL – Brazilian Real declined by 73.26% (USD 2.2 billion), total of USD 800m
- SGD – Singapore Dollar rose by 61.3% (USD 1.2 billion), total of USD 3.1 billion
- ISK – Iceland Krona declined by 70.5% (USD 489m), total of USD 205m
- UYU – Uruguay Peso declined by 91.8% (USD 825m), total of USD 74m
During Q2 08 the international capital markets increased in total value to USD 12.2 trillion, in terms of outstanding debt (excluding private issuance and domestically issued debt). This resulted in a 5.5 % (USD 631 billion) increase over 2007 figures. Further analysis concluded the Euro represented 48% (USD 5.9 trillion), US Dollar 33% (USD 4.0 trillion) and Pounds Sterling 11% (USD 1.3 trillion) of the total outstanding value for the period.
The data for this market analysis is provided by TRAX, Xtrakter’s trade matching and regulatory reporting system for the OTC market, for more information and charts visit www.xtrakter.com