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published: 5.22.03
Issuance in the U.S. bond market totaled $1.70 trillion in the first quarter of 2003, up 35.4 percent from the $1.26 trillion issued during the same period last year. The theme continues to be the same in 2003 as it was last year for the U.S. debt markets. Issuers continued to take advantage of historically low interest rates to finance debt, while investors sought the safety of the fixed-income markets as the economy and equity markets remained uncertain. New issue activity in the corporate market increased slightly during the first quarter as companies, worried about the potential effects of the war in Iraq, rushed to take advantage of low interest rates. Secondary market trading volume was up across all markets in the first quarter, with the exception the municipal market where trading volume was relatively unchanged.
The size of the U.S. fixed-income markets increased to an estimated $20.56 trillion outstanding at the end of the first quarter of 2003, up 1.8 percent from an estimated $20.19 trillion outstanding at the end of 2002.
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