Thursday was as expected a very quiet day in the single name CDS market. There was no change from Wednesday in CDS levels as volumes remained very thin. UK based ICI provided traders with something to talk about in the Industrial sector after it was named in the media as a potential target for Akzo Nobel. The share price of ICI jumped 1.1% on yesterday's close amid the speculation whilst 5Y CDS on ICI and Akzo Nobel remained unchanged at 31/34, with trade at 33, and 24/27 respectively.

In the Crossover sector 5Y CDS on Corus was unchanged at 188/198 after Tata commented that it sees a limit to the value of the UK steelmaker. 5Y CDS on Havas was seen at 225/245 (-5bp D/D) after the Wall Street Journal said that the advertising company had raised EUR 270mln that was earmarked to pay off debt in 2009 but in the meantime would be used to finance acquisitions of smaller advertising agencies.

The Energy sector produced a number of stories starting with E.ON which said it was going to be reducing its offer for Spanish peer Endesa by around EUR 500mln as a result of Endesa's plans to pay an interim dividend of EUR 0.50 per share. 5Y CDS on E.ON and Endesa stayed flat at 19/21 and 17/20, respectively. Elsewhere Gazprom will pay 37% less than first announced for the controlling stake in the Sakhalin-2 project and French utility Gaz de France said that it has no plans to team up with Pinault to takeover Suez. 5Y CDS on Gazprom was at 75.5/77.5, Gaz de France was at 10/12, Suez was at 17/20 and Pinault was at 47/50, all unchanged today