US bond sales set new January record

Active month: The Federal Reserve building in Washington. Bets that the world’s largest economy will likely avoid a more pronounced economic slowdown and that the Fed will this year start cutting interest rates are helping fuel a broad rally in risk assets. — Reuters

NEW YORK: Blue-chip firms have sold US$176bil of bonds in the United States in January, setting a record for the month, as companies look to take advantage of drops in longer-term borrowing costs.

The sales broke the prior record for January of around US$175bil, set in 2017, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. And more sales are probably coming through the end of the month, Wall Street bond syndicate professionals said.