Temasek-linked Astrea IV's Class A-1 bonds closed at 103.7 on their first trading day yesterday, translating to a yield of 3.53 per cent. They opened at 102.1.

They were rated Asf by Fitch and A (sf) by S&P, with "sf" denoting the rating for structured finance.

The $121 million retail offering of the A-1 bonds, issued by Temasek Holdings' subsidiary, Azalea Group, was 7.4 times subscribed.

Mr Clifford Lee, the head of fixed income at DBS Bank, noted that Astrea IV marks a "significant milestone" in Singapore's fixed income space, as it is the first Singapore-dollar retail bond to benefit from price discovery in an institutional book-building process, where institutional investors, established family offices and private banks provided price leadership and anchor interest beforehand.

"The final strong reception that Astrea IV found across broad investor classes attests to the acceptance of its merits by the market and paves the way for more bonds of its nature to come," he added.

iFast bond specialist Ang Chung Yuh said it was unsurprising the market had reacted so positively as there had been a lack of options in the retail bond market. But he warned against overreacting to the Temasek link, saying: "It is important to take note that these bonds are not backed by Temasek. Instead, the underlying investment portfolio has a more direct bearing on the yield of the bonds."