European companies rushed to access the capital markets last week, issuing $14bn (€11.1bn) in bonds in what was the third best week of the year by volume, but which came ahead of a sharp deterioration in credit as the leading investment grade index reached a new high yesterday.

At least 14 European companies outside the financial sector tapped the bond markets last week to raise capital, according to data from Dealogic, with the largest issue from Swedish utility Vattenfall, which raised $1.9bn in euro bonds.