Europe's comeback from the brink is extending to the region'scorporate debt market, where borrowers are selling bonds at thefastest pace in two years.

Fiat SpA, Italy's biggest manufacturer, Daimler AG andElectricite de France SA led 6.6 billion euros ($8.7 billion) ofofferings in the busiest day of issuance since Jan. 12, 2010,according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Daimler in Stuttgart,Germany raised 750 million euros after boosting the sale from 500million euros, while EDF in Paris sold 1.6 billion euros of bondsand Fiat issued its first benchmark deal since July.

The European Central Bank's injection of cash into banks throughloans and Greece's debt restructuring is raising optimism that theregion's sovereign crisis will be contained. The cost to borrow forEuropean non-financial companies has fallen at a faster rate thisyear than for issuers in the U.S., Bank of America Merrill Lynchdata show.

“While Europe still faces many obvious challenges, there hasbeen a combined regulatory and political response to euro- areaproblems,” Edward Marrinan, macro credit strategist at Royal Bankof Scotland Group Plc in Stamford, Connecticut, said in a telephoneinterview. “The follow-on risk appetite has been reflected inrobust new issuance.”

Bonds issued by the region's non-financial borrowers are headedfor their best quarter since 2009, returning 3.33 percent since theend of December, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynchindex. Similar securities in the U.S. have gained 0.19 percent, aseparate index shows.

The extra yield investors demand to buy euro-region company debtinstead of German government securities narrowed 61 basis pointssince December to 140, or 1.4 percentage points. Spreads in theU.S. have dropped by 45 to 160.

The flood of issuance continued today with BAA Funding Ltd.,owner of London's Heathrow airport, Neste Oil Oyj and RCI BanqueSA, Renault SA's financing unit, in the market with bond sales.

“What we're seeing right now is a continuation of thatpositivity after the Greek deal,” said Juan Esteban Valencia, acredit strategist at Societe Generale SA in London. “Spreads aretightening and yields are very low so it's making it veryattractive for issuers to come to the market.”

Elsewhere in credit markets, American Express Co. plans to sell$1.5 billion of five-year notes, according to a person withknowledge of the transaction. The notes may yield 130 basis pointsmore than Treasuries of similar maturity, said the person, whodeclined to be identified because terms aren't set.

Noble Group

Noble Group Ltd., Asia's biggest listed commodities trader bysales, will delay marketing a $1.5 billion loan in generalsyndication, according to three people familiar with thematter.

The company had planned to start marketing the loan in generalsyndication today however some lenders approached to be arrangersor senior banks requested more time to prepare, the people said,asking not to be identified because the details are private. Theoriginal deadline for potential arrangers to respond to terms sentby Noble was last week. Some banks requested extensions in order toprocess internal credit approvals, the people said.

“There is no delay in our timetable,” Jeanny Kim, Noble's HongKong-based director of capital markets, said in an e-mail today. Apublic announcement will be made in due course, she said.

Bonds of Morgan Stanley are the most actively traded U.S.corporate securities by dealers today, with 221 trades of $1million or more as of 12:20 p.m. in New York, according to Trace,the bond-price reporting system of the Financial IndustryRegulatory Authority.

ECB President Mario Draghi gave banks more than 1 trillion euros($1.31 trillion) of three-year loans in December and Februarythrough its Long-Term Refinancing Operation bolstering thefinancial system.

At the same time, an auction to settle outstanding credit-default swaps tied to Greece debt this week ended more than twoyears of speculation over whether the derivatives are reliable forinsuring sovereign debt after European policy makers sought toprevent payouts on concern they'd worsen the region's crisis.

“Europe has put in place a multi-pronged effort to buy time andaddress the core issue of sovereign indebtedness and embeddedlosses in bank balance sheets,” said Marrinan at Royal Bank ofScotland.

Fiat sold 850 million euros of five-year securities that werepriced to yield 7 percent, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Fiatlast sold benchmark-sized securities in euros in July, when itraised 1.5 billion euros from a sale that included notes due 2014currently yielding 5.4 percent and bonds maturing in 2018 thatyield 7.4 percent. A benchmark deal in euros is typically at least500 million euros.

Daimler, EDF

“It's a marginal spread over the last issue,” Fiat ChiefExecutive Officer Sergio Marchionne told reporters today in Bruges,Belgium. The order book for the bonds was “quite strong,” hesaid.

Fiat is rated Ba2 by Moody's Investors Service, two levels belowinvestment grade, and BB by Standard & Poor's, which said lastmonth it may lower the rating on the Turin-based company one morelevel by May.

Banca IMI SpA, Barclays Capital, Credit Agricole CIB,Commerzbank AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Natixis and UniCredit SpAmanaged the latest sale for Fiat.

Daimler's 750 million euros of 2.625 percent seven-year bondswere priced to yield 65 basis points more than swaps, data compiledby Bloomberg show. The maker of Mercedes Benz cars is rated A3 byMoody's and A- by S&P.

EDF's sale included 1 billion euros of 4.125 percent 15- yearnotes that were priced to yield 145 basis points more than the swaprate, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The utility also sold 500million pounds ($793 million) of 5.5 percent 25-year bonds thatwill yield 210 basis points more than U.K. government debt. EDF israted Aa3 by Moody's and A+ by S&P. Carole Trivi, a companyspokeswoman, declined to comment.

Other issuers yesterday included Anglo American Plc, theLondon-based miner, construction group Vinci SA in Rueil-Malmaison, France and U.K. utility Anglian Water Group Ltd. moneymanagers,” he said.

“Given the extended freeze in European credit issuance, it's notsurprising to see a host of names bursting through the doors, forfear that those doors might close up once again,” Guy LeBas, chieffixed-income strategist at Philadelphia-based Janney MontgomeryScott LLC, wrote in an e-mail.

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