corporate bond markets

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EU: Triple-Bs? Yes please!

By Suki Mann and Thibault Colle (UBS) | We effectively have four-weeks of business left in 2014 and the path is clear for corporate bond markets to record some more upside in performance. That isn’t as welcome as it might at first look. Because we do actually need something for next year. We’re already sitting on excellent returns for 2014 of 7.7% in IG and 5.6% in HY; and with that, record low yields in IG (1.42%) and spread levels not seen since before the crisis (iBoxx IG at B+101bp). Supply in HY is at a record level (€72bn YTD) and we now have the second best year for issuance ever in IG non-financials (€201.6bn) after Tuesday’s deals from BskyB and RCI are accounted for.