(Bloomberg) -- In credit markets worldwide, almost anything goes. 

From the US to Europe to Asia, companies — some of which found themselves shut out of the new issuance market not so long ago — are seizing on strong investor demand and a lack of clarity around where funding costs are headed to issue the most debt in years.

More than 40 investment-grade firms in the US have sold $53 billion of bonds this week through Wednesday, the most crowded three-day calendar since 2021, while high-yield issuers have priced nearly $11 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Despite a slew of holidays in Europe, blue-chip and junk-rated issuers have priced around $23 billion, including a cadre of riskier deals. Asian companies have sold at least eight offshore bonds.

The deluge comes as risk premiums on debt worldwide remain tight amid mixed signs of where interest rates are headed next. On Wednesday, Sweden’s Riksbank eased its benchmark interest rate for the first time in eight years, ahead of the European Central Bank, which is expected to begin lowering rates next month. The time line for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting, however, appears longer. 

The possibility of higher volatility and uncertainty around global interest rates is pushing more issuers to come to market now, said David Schiffman, lead portfolio manager at Aquila Investment Management.

“In terms of volatility in the market, there’s still a lot of uncertainty not just related to what the Fed may or not do,” Schiffman said. “There’s a lot going on overseas with geopolitical risk. Issuers may be concerned about that as well.”

Stateside, investment-grade issuance through Wednesday surpassed the 39 deals that priced during the first week of the year. Companies including toymaker Hasbro Inc. and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. are following the likes of CVS Health Corp. and Mastercard Inc. selling debt for “general corporate purposes.” 

High-yield bond sales are also proceeding at a frenetic pace. Thirteen borrowers have priced $10.8 billion, already making it the busiest week since February. Cloud Software Group Inc., the parent company of Citrix Systems, yesterday sold $1.8 billion of secured notes just over a year after banks were forced to offload a chunk of second-lien bonds tied to the company at a steep discount. The new debt follows a $1 billion term loan the company issued in March to pay down preferred equity.

Even the municipal bond market is showing signs of the enthusiasm. Illinois sold $1.8 billion of bonds Wednesday, a day earlier than expected, helped by investors’ hunger for yield amid a rally in munis.

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In Europe, Latvia’s Air Baltic Corp AS sold a €340 million junk bond Tuesday at a yield of 14.5%, the highest seen in the European market this year. After being forced to shelve a planned offering in October amid fears of higher-for-longer interest rates and geopolitical problems, the airline was greeted with strong demand for its revived deal.

Aviation company Avia Solutions Group, meanwhile, successfully sold $300 million of 9.75% bonds after postponing an offering last week. It got the deal done after boosting the yield it was offering to pay on the notes. 

Italian paper company Fedrigoni SpA is marketing a debt package that includes a €300 million pay-if-you-can toggle note, a riskier type of deal that lets a company defer interest payments under certain circumstances. And Belgian real estate firm Befimmo SA sold secured notes at a yield of more than 10%. 

“There is an emerging confidence in the market around the sectors and credits which are better positioned to deal with higher-for-longer, because investors now have 18 months of performance data within a generationally high rate environment to work with,” said Murad Khaled, head of EMEA leveraged finance capital markets at Bank of America Corp. 

Asia Bond Boom

Not to be left out, Asia is getting in on the issuance boom as well.

At least eight corporate borrowers have priced offshore offerings this week, including a Korean toll road operator and a Chinese bank, while a handful of others are in the process of marketing deals.

Read More: Asian Bond Sales Mark Busiest Day in Year Adding to Global Boom

Borrowing costs in Asian credit markets fell to all-time lows in recent days. The extra yield investors demand to hold investment-grade dollar bonds from issuers in the region is at about 81 basis points, near a record low below 80 basis points marked last week, a Bloomberg index shows.

In the US, risk premiums in the investment-grade and high-yield bond markets remain near the lowest levels in two years. While spreads have been widening slightly in the European junk-bond market in recent weeks, they’re also hovering around early 2022 levels.

--With assistance from Danielle Moran, Christopher DeReza, Gowri Gurumurthy, Kevin Kingsbury, Ameya Karve, Lorretta Chen and Brian Smith.

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