Westpac leads bond sales to 12-month high

Bond sales in Australia are surging this quarter to the highest level in a year as banks, companies and foreign borrowers lock in relative yields tumbling by the most since September 2009. Westpac Banking led banks arranging A$35.3 billion (Dh137 billion) of offerings since December 31, more than double the amount in the previous three months and the most since the same period of 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show. US investment-grade sales rose 47 per cent to $267 billion. Momentum Woolworths, the nation's largest retailer, sold the biggest non-financial bond since October last week as signs of momentum in the US, the world's largest economy, helped revive confidence among Australian investors. Money managers boosted holdings of Australian corporate notes last month to the most since 2009, helping bring down the extra yield on the debt by 40 basis points this year to 252 basis points, a four-month low, Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes show.