Bangkok--30 Sep--Standard & Poor's After a one-day break from Wednesday's five-year high, Standard & Poor's U.S. investment-grade composite credit spread widened back to 314 basis points (bps) on Friday, more than double the spread at the beginning of the year and 54% wider than the five-year average. The investment-grade spread has experienced large fluctuations in the past two weeks because of a rather extreme degree of market uncertainty, showing an unprecedented two-week range of 42 bps--five times the average for the past five years. By rating, the 'A' and 'BBB' spreads reached their five-year highs, at 317 bps and 368 bps, respectively. In the Standard & Poor's speculative-grade domain, the composite spread widened to 877 bps, the third-widest spread in five years, echoing its investment-grade counterpart by more than doubling its spread since the beginning of the year. The speculative-grade credit spread is poised for continued volatility, commensurate with an escalation in speculative-grade defaults over the course of this year. Media Contact: Mimi Barker, New York (1) 212-438-5054, [email protected] Analyst Contacts: Diane Vazz, New York (1) 212-438-2760 Key Contacts: Americas Media Relations: (1) 212-438-6667 media_ [email protected] Americas Customer Service: (1) 212-438-7280 [email protected]