German consumer goods group Henkel is selling €500m worth of two-year debt with a yield-to-maturity of minus 0.05 per cent, writes Gavin Jackson, the FT’s Capital Markets Correspondent.

The company will also be selling €700m of five-year debt with a yield of zero per cent.

Sanofi, the French pharmaceutical business, will join in the action later, issuing three-and-a-half year debt yielding less than zero, alongside both six-year and ten-year bonds.

You might ask yourself, “Why do I buy a negative rate junk bond?” You might ask yourself, “Where does that highway lead to?”

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The ECB is buying up bonds and equities in an effort to stave off economic collapse stimulate the economy. Their appetite and resolve is such that blessed companies can now be paid over time to borrow money.