Indonesia has seen the sale of Asia’s first two high- yield corporate US dollar- denominated bonds since July 2008, adding to cautious optimism that the region’s market for such issues will improve in the second half of the year.

Indonesia’s state power utility Perusahaan Listrik Negara priced $750m in 10-year bonds early on Tuesday. Indonesian retailer PT Matahari Putra Prima priced a $200m three-year exchange deal on Monday, which brought in $116.6m in new money and $83.4m in the exchange portion.