CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced the release of its CUSIP Issuance Trends Report for September 2017. The report, which tracks the issuance of new security identifiers as an early indicator of debt and capital markets activity, found mixed results this month. Pre-trade requests for new municipal bond and corporate equity identifiers decreased in September, while requests for new corporate debt identifiers increased during the month. This is suggestive of a possible decrease in new municipal bond and corporate equity issuance and an increase in new corporate debt issuance in the fourth quarter of 2017.

CUSIP identifier requests for the broad category of U.S. and Canadian corporate offerings, which includes both equity and debt, totaled 4,121 in September down 2% from August, driven primarily by a 15% decline in requests for new corporate equity identifiers. By contrast, requests for corporate debt identifiers increased 7% during the month of September, logging the second-highest monthly count for new corporate debt CUSIP requests so far in 2017. So far this year, demand for new CUSIPs for both corporate debt and equity offerings are up 21% over the same period in 2016.

Municipal CUSIP requests declined in September. A total of 934 municipal bond identifier requests were made during the month, a decrease of 18% from August. On a year-over-year basis, municipal request volume was down 25% through the end of September 2017, reflecting ongoing volatility in municipal issuance volumes over the course of this year.

"Month-to-month CUSIP request volume has been volatile this year as issuers continue to tread carefully in an uncertain marketplace," said Gerard Faulkner, Director of Operations for CUSIP Global Services. "Taken as a whole, the first three quarters of this year have been consistent with a healthy volume of new securities issuance, but the persistent ebbs and flows in volume do underscore the cautious stance of many market participants."

International debt and equity CUSIP International Numbers (CINS) volume both saw increases in September. International equity CINS increased 31% and international debt CINS increased 4% during the month. On a year-over-year basis, international equity requests were down 14% and international debt requests were up 53%, reflecting continued volatility in international markets.

"New security issuers are clearly watching interest rates closely as pre-market issuance activity continues to rise and fall in tandem with expectations for another Fed rate move," said Richard Peterson, Senior Director, S&P Global Market Intelligence. "Given the current level of geopolitical and market uncertainty, this kind of volatility in CUSIP request volume is to be expected."

To view a copy of the full CUSIP Issuance Trends report, please click here.

Following is a breakdown of New CUSIP Identifier requests by asset class year-to-date, through September 2017: