NEW YORK -- International equity markets could be flooded with new offerings by the end of the year.
Emerging markets and European issuers are looking to raise in the next four months the same amount they've raised in the past eight months, said Robert J. Pelosky, global emerging markets strategist and managing director with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in New York.
He expects Latin America to issue $2 billion in initial public offerings and secondary offerings, even though no stocks have been issued there yet this year; non-Japan Asia to issue $14.8 billion in equities vs. $15.9 billion over the first eight months of the year; and Europe to surpass its year-to-date total of $94.8 billion with a "stunning" $107 billion.
And don't forget Australia, which Mr. Pelosky expects will see $11.9 billion in new stocks vs. the $1.9 billion issued through the end of August.
He said the increase in issues is a matter of timing. The combination of the end-of-the-summer holidays and the weeks before the Y2K problem hits investors has created "a small window" in which companies may issue shares.
In the near term, the increase could put pressure on emerging markets and global equity markets, he said. But, in the end, it's positive for emerging markets because investors are looking for new names after the relatively small number of shares issued recently.
