Companies looking to borrow made up for lost time Thursday, selling nearly $12 billion worth of bonds following a three-day freeze in issuance in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Nine investment-grade companies--rated triple B or above--took advantage of what analysts expect to be a narrow window of time to lock in ultralow interest rates ahead of Friday's widely watched jobs report and Tuesday's U.S. elections. Both events have the potential to generate market volatility that is liable to curb investors' appetite. Issuers tend not to sell bonds on Fridays.

Among those tapping the market Thursday were aerospace and defense contractor General Dynamics Corp. (GD), the financing units of BP PLC (BP) and Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), and a trio of banks: Bank of Montreal (BMO), Capital One Financial Corp. (COF) and PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (PNC).

Before the storm, bankers were expecting upward of $30 billion in high-grade bond deals this week. But none made it to market through Wednesday, as Sandy devastated the Northeast and shut down issuance. Thursday's burst of activity was expected to mark the busiest session since Oct. 18, when $14.4 billion of highly rated debt was sold in the U.S., according to data provider Dealogic.

The comeback is "obviously a sign of strength for the market," said John D. Ryan, portfolio manager at DWS Investments in New York.

Leading the issuer charge was BP Capital Markets, with a $3 billion bond offering in three parts. General Dynamic's deal was $2.4 billion, BMO's was $2 billion and Caterpillar's was $1.2 billion.

Also in the market Thursday was a unit of El Paso Pipeline Partners (EPB), hand tools maker Stanley Black & Decker (SWK), and car parts maker AutoZone Inc. (AZO). The three received healthy terms on their deals: The El Paso unit was set to sell $475 million of debt at a risk premium of 1.85 percentage point over comparable Treasurys, the low end of its initial price guidance. Stanley Black & Decker was set to sell $800 million of debt at 1.20 points over Treasurys, also inside earlier guidance. And AutoZone at 1.20 points, below its earlier talk of 1.30 point over Treasurys.

As companies rushed to borrow, one opted to postpone its offering so as not to have to compete, according to three prospective investors who were pitched the deal. A multibillion-dollar bond issue expected from a unit of Abbott Laboratories (ABT) will likely be brought to market next week instead, according to the three potential investors.

The company's bankers were originally expected to launch a mammoth $10 billion-plus bond offering by Wednesday from AbbVie Inc., a subsidiary of the health-care company. The borrowing was aimed at helping finance separating the unit from the parent company, a plan that was announced last year, and to fund a dividend to Abbott.

"The [bankers] just want to make sure everything is as close to normal on both the Street and [on the customers'] side to bring a deal this large," said one of the prospective investors, who spoke with the underwriters.

Indications early Thursday were that large companies who went forward with their borrowing plans had the upper hand over investors, given the pent-up demand. "Looks like "fair-value" at best," for investors looking at the deals, said DWS Investments' Mr. Ryan.

High-grade corporate bonds have been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Federal Reserve's latest efforts to stimulate the economy by buying bonds. While Treasurys and U.S. mortgage-backed securities delivered negative total returns last month of -0.17% and -0.18%, respectively, high-grade corporates gained 1.29%.

A handful of below-investment-grade, or "junk," bond offerings also were on the table, said Dealogic, including deals Thursday from Spectrum Brands Holdings Inc. (SPB) and Checkers Drive-In Restaurants.

Write to Katy Burne at katy.burne@dowjones.com and Patrick McGee at patrick.mcgee@dowjones.com

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