Following its first two bond issuances denominated in euro in May 2022 and October 2022, SUEZ successfully priced a 20-year inaugural sterling Green Bond, yesterday.

With this transaction on a 5-year maturity, Sfil extends its dollar reference curve by a further 2 years and contributes to diversifying its medium- to long-term financing sources after 2 euro transactions launched during the 1st half at 5 and 7 years.

Two factors in addition to the ongoing climb in yields may have played a part in this equity market drop. Firstly, consumer sentiment deteriorated with a sharp drop in expectations. The drop in confidence (103.0 from 108.7) was less significant than the much larger drop in expectations. The present conditions index actually increased marginally...

The Japanese yen continued its decline after a series of losses extending since around midnight yesterday. The US dollar against the Japanese yen (USD/JPY) reached a new record level this year at 148.458, the highest since November of last year.

The last decade has seen a growth bias among financial assets, one that has become entrenched in equity indices. At the same time, bonds seemingly shed much of their protective qualities, offering investors very little by way of diversification.