US CREDIT OPEN-Yellen signals higher rates; Abbott jumbo on deck

By John Balassi

NEW YORK, Nov 17 (IFR) - Summary of overnight events and Thursday's main headlines:

Dow Futures: -2 S&P Futures: +0.50 Nasdaq Futures: +7.75

CDX IG.27: -0.0625 tighter CDX HY.27: -0.0625 lower

10yr UST yield: 2.224%, +0.1 30yr UST yield: 2.955%, +3.1

EUR/USD: 1.0719, +0.32%

USD/JPY: 109.23, +0.16%

WTI Oil: $46.19, +1.36%

HEADLINES

Yellen says Fed could raise rates 'relatively soon'

The Federal Reserve could raise US interest rates "relatively soon" if economic data keeps pointing to an improving labor market and rising inflation, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Thursday in a clear hint the U.S. central bank could hike next month.

Dollar charge pauses as bond bashing relents

Battered bonds and emerging market currencies enjoyed some respite on Thursday as the dollar took a breather from a post-U.S. election charge that has taken it to a 13-1/2 year high.

Confidence rebounds for wealthy investors

Two weeks before the U.S. presidential election, half of wealthy investors were so fearful of turmoil in the stock markets that they either pulled some of their money out or moved it into more conservative investments, according to a survey by UBS Wealth Management Americas.

Walmart's comparable sales miss estimates

Wal-Mart Stores Inc on Thursday reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales at established U.S. stores, hurt by food deflation, and its shares fell nearly 3 percent.

OVERNIGHT TREASURIES

* Bonds higher overnight, led by belly, following Bunds/Gilts/JGBs

* Better buying supports bid, Japanese/Asian accounts lift belly through long-end

* Asian accounts noted as heavy sellers of front end

* 10s trade 2.187/2.208% range overnight, yield dips 2bp

* Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 10s trade 126-24.5/126-15 range, 126-20 last

* Moderately good volume, Dec 10s trade 281k contracts by 06:10 EST

* 2s/10s 2.2bp flatter at 119.6bp

GLOBAL MACRO

* Market opens risk-off as investors consolidate ahead of Fed Chair Yellen testimony

* Japan PM Abe seeks to build trust with Trump, stresses alliance vital

* ECB Mersch says ECB must roll back stimulus "as soon as possible"

* Italy won't bend budget plan for EU says Renzi advisor

* Riksbank's Jansson says not reached lower bound for rates yet

* Brent holds below $47 as oversupply fears persist

* Shanghai Composite gains 0.11% as government investment boosts infrastructure sector

* France Q3 ILO Unemployment Rate 10.00% (prev 9.90%)

* Italy September Trade Balance EU EUR0.778bn (prev EUR0.367bn)

* Italy September Global Trade Balance EUR3.670bn (prev EUR2.494bn)

* UK October Retail Sales 1.9% m/m (exp 0.4%, prev 0.1%) and 7.4% y/y (exp 5.3%, prev 4.2%)

* UK October Retail Sales Ex-Fuel 2.0% m/m (exp 0.4%, prev 0.1%) and 7.6% y/y (exp 5.4%, prev 4.0%)

* EZ October Inflation Final 0.2% m/m (exp 0.3%, prev 0.4%) and 0.5% y/y (exp 0.5%, prev 0.5%)

DATA

* 08:30 Initial Jobless Claims (12Nov) (mkt 257k, prev 254k)

* 08:30 Continued Claims (05Nov) (mkt 2.038 mn, prev 2.041 mn)

* 08:30 CPI (Oct (HKSE: 3366-OL.HK - news) ) (mkt +0.4% m/m, +1.6% y/y; prev +0.3% m/m, +1.5% y/y)

* 08:30 CPI ex-Food and Energy (Oct) (mkt +0.2% m/m, +2.2% y/y; prev +0.1% m/m, +2.2% y/y)

* 08:30 Housing Starts (Oct) (mkt 1.156 mn SAAR, prev 1.047 mn SAAR)

* 08:30 Building Permits (Oct) (mkt 1.198 mn SAAR, prev 1.225 mn SAAR)

* 10:00 Philly Fed Index (Nov) (mkt 8.0, prev 9.7)

* 10:00 E-Commerce Retail Sales (Q3) (prev +4.5% q/q AR)

* 11:30 Cleveland Fed Median CPI (Oct) (prev +0.2% m/m)

EVENTS

* 08:00 Fed releases Chair Yellen's prepared testimony to the Joint Economic Committee

* 08:00 FRB New York's Dudley and Fed Governor Brainard co-host "Evolution of Work" forum; New York, NY

* 08:50 FRB New York's Dudley (voter, dove) opening remarks at international macroeconomics and finance forum; New York, NY

* 10:00 Fed Chair Yellen (voter, dove) testifies before Joint Economic Committee; Washington, DC

* 11:45 FedTrade 30-year Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac (max $2.500 bn)

* 12:30 Fed Governor Brainard (voter, dove) speaks on "The Evolution of Work", New York, NY

* 14:45 FRB Chicago's Evans (2017 voter, dove) speaks

ISSUANCE

* 11:00 Treasury announces 3- and 6-month bills (e: $42/36 bn)

* 11:00 Treasury announces reopened 2-year Floating Rate Notes (e: $13 bn)

* 11:00 Treasury announces 2-, 5- and 7-year notes (e: $26/34/28 bn)

* 13:00 Treasury auctions $11 bn reopened 10-year TIPS

USD HIGH-GRADE SUMMARY

Number of deals priced on Wednesday: 6

Wednesday's issuance: US$9.150bn

Weekly issuance: US$25.000bn

Monthly issuance: US$40.995bn

Quarterly issuance: US$143.995bn

2016 year to date issuance: US$1.213trn

2015 year to date issuance: US$1.184trn

2015 full year issuance: US$1.269trn

LIPPER FLOWS

For the week ended November 9, Lipper US Fund Flows reported the following:

- INVESTMENT-GRADE FUNDS NET INFLOW: US$675.496m

- IG YTD NET INFLOW: US$40.971bn

USD HIGH-GRADE ACTIVE DEALS

Abbott Labs, A2/A+, is set to announce an up to US$15bn multi-tranche bond on Thursday to fund its acquisition of St Jude Medical, sources said. The senior transaction, coming via Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) and Morgan Stanley (Xetra: 885836 - news) , is expected to comprise bonds with maturities of 3 to 30 years. Sources said Abbott may issue 3, 5, 7, 10, 20 and 30-year fixed rate bonds.

USD HIGH-GRADE PIPELINE

Enbridge Inc (Frankfurt: 885427 - news) , the Canadian energy delivery company, asked Barclays, Deutsche Bank (LSE: 0H7D.L - news) , Mizuho and MUFG to arrange fixed income investor calls slated to began on Wednesday, November 16th from 11:00am thru 2:00pm ET and concludes on Thursday the 17th from 9:45am thru 4:00pm ET. DB will coordinate.

Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (A2/A-) mandated J.P. Morgan (Other OTC: MGHL - news) , Mizuho and MUFG to arrange fixed income investor calls that took place on Wednesday, November 16th from 9:00am thru 5:00pm ET. MUFG is coordinating.

Canara Bank (BSE: CANBK.BO - news) mandated BAML, Barclays, BNP Paribas (LSE: 0HB5.L - news) , Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) , HSBC, JP Morgan and Credit Agricole (Swiss: ACA.SW - news) as joint lead managers for a senior unsecured US dollar 144A/Reg S offering. Meetings began last week. The deal, expected to be issued out of Canara Bank's London branch, will target around US$300m-$500m, a bank official said. UOP: Fund business operations.

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. Ltd, Aa2/AA (Frankfurt: A116XA - news) , mandated BNP (Paris: FR0000131104 - news) Paribas and Citigroup to arrange fixed-income investor meetings in the US that took place October 18-20.

Hyundai Capital Services, Baa1/A-, mandated Citigroup, HSBC and Nomura as joint books to arrange investor meetings that took place on October 17 in preparation for a dollar-denominated 144a/Reg S issue. (Reporting by John Balassi; Editing by Marc Carnegie)