Amid rising stocks markets and a return of hot initial public offerings (IPOs), global equity issuance rose sharply in the first half, as did debt issuance, LSEG Data & Analytics says.
According to new data from LSEG, total equity issuance was up 72% through the first six months of 2026 to US$568.8 billion. The volume of deals was up 10% from the same period last year, while the value of new issues soared.
In the second quarter, equity issuance was up 83% compared to the first quarter, it noted.
The rise in new issue activity was led by the return of global IPOs, which raised US$170.1 billion in the first half — more than triple the IPO activity that took place in the same period last year, LSEG noted.
More than half of the global total came in the record US$86.3-billion floatation by SpaceX.
And, the volume of IPOs was actually down by 3% from the first six months of 2025.
Alongside the surge in IPOs, global secondary offerings were also up 28% in the first half, with US$270.0 billion in deal activity — and, the value of global convertible offerings rose 78% to US$128.8 billion, it noted.
While global equity activity jumped, the issuance of new debt was up 7% in the first half to a record US$7.1 trillion, LSEG said, although the number of deals was down by 12% compared to the same period last year.
In the second quarter, debt issuance was down by 6% from the first quarter, which was a record for quarterly global debt raising.
The new issue activity was driven by investment-grade corporate debt, which raised a total of US$3.4 trillion in the first half, up 10% from last year — setting a new record for the first six months. And, second quarter issuance was up 6% from the first quarter, LSG noted.
The global issuance of high-yield debt was also up by 12% in the first half to US$261 billion, led by a 35% jump in the second quarter from the first quarter.
The issuance of green bonds hit records heights in the first half too, with US$307.9 billion in total proceeds, up 16% from last year. Second quarter issuance of green bonds increased 21% compared to the first quarter, to set a record.
The retail and tech sectors led the way in corporate debt issuance, while the consumer staples and materials sectors saw issuance decline in the first half.
JP Morgan continued to lead in overall debt underwriter rankings, followed by BofA Securities. However, Morgan Stanley jumped into third spot, knocking Citi and Goldman Sachs down to fourth and fifth place, respectively.
RBC Capital Markets was the top-ranked Canadian firm, taking 13th place in the global rankings, up from 14th last year. BMO Capital Markets took 18th place, and TD Securities Inc. (TDSI) was 25th.
On the equities side, Goldman retook first place in the overall rankings, pushing JP Morgan back down to the second spot. Morgan Stanely, BofA, and Citi retained their positions — third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
RBC held onto 13th place in the global rankings, and TDSI took 16th position.