MarketAxess to Introduce Daily Closing Auction for Corporate Bonds

MarketAxess Holdings is launching a daily closing auction for corporate bonds, aiming to deepen liquidity and lower borrowing costs. The auction will match buy and sell interests from dealers and investors to find a single closing price of a bond. The change comes amid rapid shifts in the bond market, with traders embracing portfolio trading, fixed-income ETFs, and electronic, high-speed strategies. Dealers may initially take a hit, but can profit from auctions by offsetting supply and demand imbalances and capitalizing on price discrepancies.