Europe's new currency might have had a stinking debut on the foreign exchange markets, falling by nearly 10% against the dollar in the first two months, but participants in the Eurobond market couldn't care less. For Eurobond market firms, life has rarely been sweeter. The launch of the euro has brought in its wake a bull market: a boom in new issues and an opening up of the market both to new borrowers and new investors.
In the first two months of this year, the euro rose to prominence, accounting for 49% of international market new issues, compared with 41% for the Emu 11 currencies during 1998. Meanwhile dollar deals accounted for 35% of new issues in the first two months, compared with 38% in 1998. There were some €15 billion of corporate deals in the first two months of 1999, compared with under €4 billion in the same period...
