David Oakley
CDS report: UK credit hit by ratings alert
UK credit derivatives widened sharply on Thursday after Standard & Poor’s revised the British government’s credit ratings from stable to negative for the first time since 1978, when the agency first started assessing the country’s economic outlook.
CDS report: rally presses on
European credit derivatives continued to rally on Friday amid rising confidence as the US stress test results failed to upset the markets.
Markit’s iTraxx Europe index, made up of 125 investment grade names,
CDS report: European credit derivatives tighten
European credit derivative markets tightened on Monday, helped by the strength of equities and easing concerns over US bank stress tests later in the week.
Markit’s iTraxx Crossover index, which measures the cost of insuring the bonds of 45 mostly sub-investment grade European corporate borrowers against default,
CDS report: European credit derivatives tighten
European credit derivatives prices tightened on Friday as they took their cue from firm equity markets.
Markit’s iTraxx Europe index, which is comprised of 125 European investment grade names, tightened to 152 basis points – 1bp tighter than the Thursday close.
CDS report: European credit derivatives tighten
European credit spreads tightened on Thursday as activity in the primary corporate bond markets boosted sentiment.
Markit’s investment-grade iTraxx Europe index of CDS on leading European corporates was at 151 basis points,
CDS report: European markets tighter on US banks
European credit derivatives saw spreads move slightly tighter on Wednesday as market worries eased over the health of the balance sheets of the US banks.
Markit’s investment grade iTraxx Europe index narrowed a touch ahead of the UK Budget,
CDS report: European credit default swaps widen on worries over banks
European credit spreads widened on Tuesday amid growing concerns about bank losses and worries over US company results.
Markit’s investment grade index, the iTraxx Europe index, widened to 156 basis points – a 2bp rise from Monday’s London close.
CDS report: European credit derivatives widen on risk aversion
European credit derivative spreads widened on Monday as risk aversion rose amid warnings by policymakers of potential economic problems ahead.
Barack Obama, US president, said at the weekend that it was a difficult time for the economy and that credit markets were likely to remain seriously restrained.
CDS report: Conditions thin, but tighter
European credit markets tightened on Thursday on thin flows ahead of the Easter holidays.
Markit’s iTraxx Crossover index, which tracks 45 mostly-high yield names in Europe, tightened to 903 basis points from the 918bp close on Wednesday.
CDS report: European credit derivatives narrow
European credit derivatives narrowed on Wednesday amid light flows.
Markit’s iTraxx Crossover index, which is mainly made up of high-yield names, narrowed to 920 basis points from a Tuesday close of 929bp.
CDS report: European credit derivatives narrow
European credit default swaps fell on Friday amid improving sentiment about the health of the world economy.
A combination of stabilising economic data, a positive outcome from the G20 gathering and changes to US accounting rules helped buoy the market.
CDS report: European markets buoyed by US plans
European credit markets were boosted on Monday by growing hopes that US plans to deal with banks’ toxic assets will help revive the economy and avert a deep recession.
The Markit iTraxx Crossover index,
CDS report: European credit prices tighten on US Fed decision
European credit derivatives prices tightened on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve said it would buy $300bn of government debt.
The Markit iTraxx Crossover index of mainly high-yield names tightened to 1,125 basis points,
CDS report: European credit derivatives widen
European credit derivatives prices widened on Wednesday as grim UK jobless figures weighed on sentiment.
The Markit iTraxx Crossover index, comprised of 50 mostly junk-grade names, stood at 1,126 basis points,
CDS report: European credit derivatives hit fresh wides
The cost to insure corporate European bonds against default hit fresh wides on Friday as the market nervously eyed US payroll numbers.
The Markit iTraxx Crossover index rose to 1,170 basis points for the first time.
CDS report: markets move wider
European credit derivatives rose on Friday as the market followed the weakness in the stock markets amid continuing worries over the financial sector.
The Markit iTraxx Crossover index, which tracks 50 mostly junk-rated companies and is the best gauge to sentiment,
CDS report: European credit derivatives drift on low volumes
European credit derivatives drifted on Tuesday amid extremely light volumes ahead of the Christmas holidays.
The key barometer to sentiment, Markit’s iTraxx Crossover index of 50 mostly high-yield names,
CDS report: European credit derivatives narrow after Fed rate cuts
European credit derivatives narrowed sharply on Wednesday after the US Federal Reserve cut interest rates close to zero in a surprise move aimed at preventing the US economy from slipping into its worst recession since the Great Depression.
CDS report: fresh highs for European credits
European credit derivatives prices widened to record highs on Friday as the decision by US lawmakers to reject a bailout package for the troubled car industry hit sentiment.
The Markit iTraxx Crossover index,
CDS report: Market edges wider ahead of US payrolls
European credit derivatives widened for a fifth day in a row on Friday (ahead of US non-farm payrolls, the key economic number of the week) to break fresh record highs as sentiment continued to deteriorate because of the gloom surrounding the global economy.
CDS report: European credit default swaps hit record wides
European credit default swaps were trading at record wides on Thursday as banks and investors continued to deleverage amid fears of the severity of the global slowdown and worries that a large pipeline of corporate bonds hitting the market would further hurt sentiment.
CDS report: European emerging sovereigns under pressure
European emerging market credits came under pressure on Wednesday as risk aversion continued to plague the financial system.
With the International Monetary Fund considering bailouts for Ukraine, Turkey,
CDS report: European credit derivatives at record wides
European credit derivatives were trading at record wides on Tuesday amid growing worries over the implosion of a hedge fund or insurance group because of exposure to failed bank Lehman Brothers.
Many hedge funds and insurance groups sold protection to Lehman,
CDS report: European credit under pressure
European credit was under pressure on Thursday as equity markets fell amid growing fears over the severity of the global recession.
The key iTraxx Crossover index, the best gauge to sentiment in the European credit markets,
CDS report: fragile markets
European credit default swap markets tightened on Thursday amid light flows as the financial crunch continues to hit liquidity.
The market followed equities, which pushed higher on the back of rising banking stocks following the passage of the $700bn bail-out package through the US Senate.
CDS report: September roundup
Credit default swaps for the beleaguered banking and financial services sector were the most actively traded in the US in September, according to inter-dealer broker GFI.
The most actively traded swaps were those referencing Morgan Stanley,
CDS report: Lloyds TSB and HBOS under pressure
Credit default swaps referencing Lloyds TSB and HBOS came under pressure on Tuesday as doubts about the agreed merger between the banks rose and stock prices fell.
The cose to insure the senior debt of HBOS rose to 350 basis points from around 300bps at the end of last week,
CDS report: Iceland in the spotlight
Iceland was the centre of attention in the credit default swaps market on Monday as the government nationalised Glitnir, the island’s third biggest bank.
Although trading was extremely thin, the cost to insure Glitnir against defaulting stood at an all-time record level of 1,450bp,
CDS report: rally stalls as US stocks falter
The rally in European credit derivatives finally came to an end on Friday as the nosedive in US stocks hit the market.
The iTraxx Crossover index, the benchmark of credit sentiment, widened by 5 basis points,
CDS report: Sainsbury wider on bid rumours
Sainsbury’s credit default swaps widened on Monday after a report suggested the board was about to recommend a £10.6bn takeover bid from a fund backed by the Qatari government.
Five-year credit default swaps widened by 15 basis points,