New Year gets off to a fiery start

Issues by sovereigns, sub-sovereigns and agencies tend to do well at the start of the year, mopping up high January cash balances. But in 2005 quality issuers have done even better than usual, raising hopes of a good year.

TRY TO BLAME the poor performance of a capital markets deal on the conjunction of phases of the moon and the path of the sun and you’ll probably be given short shrift. But lunar and solar behaviour have a huge bearing on sentiment in the debt capital markets at the beginning of every year because they are used to calculate the date of the Chinese New Year.

In 2004, Chinese New Year fell on January 22.

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