NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors pulled out of U.S. corporate bonds on Wednesday as the three major stock indexes sold off on reports of higher COVID-19 cases worldwide and strict shutdowns planned in Europe.
Markit’s North American High-Yield CDX Index – which tracks the cost to insure high-yield corporate debt and is a proxy for the junk market – fell in price to 103.695%, the lowest since Sept. 28, as investors sold the contract betting on credit deterioration.
Spreads on Markit’s North American Investment Grade CDX Index widened to 63.84, the highest since Sept. 18, as investors there also bet on a rise in defaults.
(Reporting by Kate Duguid; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
