US commercial paper outstanding fell by $4.4 billion in the week ended February 4, marking the fourth straight week of contraction in the market, Federal Reserve data released on Thursday showed. The fall in the market, which is a vital source of short-term funding for daily operations at many companies, was not as large as the previous week.
However, when the market shrank by a whopping $98.8 billion. The size of the US commercial paper market fell to $1.585 trillion in the week ended on Wednesday, from $1.590 trillion the previous week. Overall, the market has shrank by $179.2 billion in the last four weeks, according to the Fed.
The closely watched asset-backed sector contracted by $7.8 billion compared with a $7.2 billion drop last week. Asset-backed commercial paper outstanding fell to $734.0 billion in the latest week from $741.8 billion the previous week. US unsecured financial commercial paper outstanding fell $5.0 billion after a $93.5 billion dip the prior week.