Rebound in China helps offset decline in U.S. activity.

Driven by weakness in U.S. equity markets, global equity issuance declined in the first quarter, according to new data from LSEG Data & Analytics.

Global equity markets had their weakest opening in several years, with total issuance of $142.4 billion in the first quarter, down 5% from the same period a year ago and down 26% from the fourth quarter of 2024. The volume of deals was also down by 14% year-over-year.

The drop in global new issue activity was driven by the U.S. market, which saw issuance fall 25% year-over-year to $45.9 billion.

In the first quarter, U.S. secondary issuance was down 34% to $24.5 billion and offerings of convertibles dropped 29% to $13.3 billion.

Globally, the value of secondary offerings was down 9% in the first quarter to $92.5 billion and convertibles activity was down 6%, LSEG reported.

The one bright spot was the initial public offering (IPO) market, with the value of global IPOs (excluding SPACs) rising 17% in the first quarter to $26.1 billion. In the U.S., IPO activity was up 12% in the quarter too.

The overall weakness in the U.S. market was partly offset by China, which saw $26.3 billion in equity issuance in the quarter — an increase of 240% from the first quarter of 2024.

In the rest of Asia (excluding China), total issuance was up 19% in the first quarter, and for the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region, new issue activity was up 13% year-over-year to $39.8 billion.

According to the report, Goldman Sachs led the global underwriting league tables, jumping up from fourth spot in 2024. JP Morgan held onto second place, while Morgan Stanley dropped from first to third.