กรุงเทพฯ--1 ก.ย.--Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's investment-grade and speculative-grade composite spreads tightened slightly on Friday to 243 basis points (bps) and 821 bps, respectively. By rating, the 'AA' spread widened one basis point to 161 bps; 'A' and 'BBB' tightened one basis point each to 204 bps and 314 bps, respectively; 'BB' expanded 2 bps to 561 bps; 'B' expanded one basis point to 788 bps; and 'CCC' tightened 2 bps to 1,311 bps.
By industry, industrials tightened by the largest margin of 5 bps to 416 bps, followed by financial institutions, which tightened 3 bps to 443 bps. Banks and utilities tightened one basis point each to 364 bps and 230 bps, respectively, and telecommunications remained unchanged at 343 bps.
Despite material tightening since their all-time highs reached in December 2008, the speculative-grade spread remains near some of the highest levels ever recorded in a default cycle, and the investment-grade spread continues to face pressure from financial institutions and banks. In addition, speculative-grade defaults continue to accelerate, as does the preponderance of credit downgrades. Because of these factors, we expect spreads to remain at their elevated levels for some time as investors, the credit markets, and the economy cautiously tread through the current recessionary period.
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