U.S. corporate bond sales dip, junk sales at 2000 low

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. corporate bond sales dipped for the first half of 2008 versus record levels last year, when issuance soared due to massive leveraged buyouts and loose lending standards, according to preliminary Thomson Reuters bond data released on Friday.

U.S. high-yield bond sales fell 69 percent to $29.1 billion, the biggest drop and the lowest level of sales since the first six months of 2000. That decline in sales was a precursor to the U.S. recession that lasted from March to November 2001.

"We're comparing this against the biggest rise last year in high-yield bonds, which was fueled by LBOs," said Matthew Toole, an analyst at Thomson Reuters. "The credit crisis basically halted all sales of new bonds. It was prohibitively expensive for many issuers to come to market."

Investment-grade bond sales fell 7 percent to $497.4 billion, the lowest level since 2006, Thomson Reuters data collected through June 26 showed.

JP Morgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) led league tables for underwriting high-yield and investment-grade bond sales. JP Morgan was bookrunner for 38 high-yield deals totaling $6.9 billion in proceeds, nearly 24 percent market share, according to the data.

JP Morgan narrowly edged out Citigroup Inc (C.N) as the top bookrunner for investment-grade sales, with 160 issues totaling $70.6 billion in proceeds for a 14.2 percent market share. Citi had 127 issues totaling $69.5 billion in proceeds for 14 percent share.

(Reporting by Walden Siew; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)