By Shankar Ramakrishnan

May 5 (Reuters) - Apple ( AAPL ) on Monday announced a

four-tranche bond offering, its first in two years, with

proceeds expected to be used to repurchase stock, repay

outstanding debt among other purposes, according to its SEC

filing.

The size of the bond offering was not stated at launch but

CreditSights analysts expect it to raise nearly $5 billion to $6

billion. The analysts said Apple ( AAPL ) has $8 billion in upcoming debt

maturities from May through November.

Besides Apple ( AAPL ), there were eight other issuers in the

investment-grade primary market to kick off a week that is

expected to see nearly $35 billion of bond issuance.

The rise in new bond supply has come amidst a rebound in

credit spreads, or the premium companies pay over Treasuries,

in the weeks since President Donald Trump first announced harsh

tariffs and then provided temporary relief.

The average investment-grade bond spread was at 106 basis

points last Friday, the latest data, or three basis points

inside levels touched last Thursday.