Junk-Bond Exodus Accelerates
Investors pulled a record $7.1 billion from junk-bond funds in the week ended Wednesday, fund tracker Lipper said, the latest sign of investor anxiety following a long rally.
Many investors have been pulling back from the market amid concerns that a strengthening U.S. economy could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates sooner than the market currently expects.
The average U.S. junk-bond yield hit 5.78% as of Wednesday, up from below 5% last month, according to a Barclays index. When yields rise, prices fall.
At the same time, interest rates around the globe have been in sharp decline in recent weeks, amid geopolitical turmoil centered on Israel and Ukraine and signs that European growth is sputtering. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note on Thursday tumbled to 2.424%, its lowest level since June 2013.
The junk-bond-fund outflows far outpace the previous record weekly withdrawal of $4.6 billion in June 2013.
The tremors are being closely scrutinized across Wall Street. Many investors this year have expressed concerns that a pullback in junk-bond prices could signal that market participants are rethinking their willingness to take risk, foreshadowing further declines in stocks and other risky assets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 75.07 points, or 0.5%, Thursday, its ninth decline in 12 trading days.
Investors have flocked to the $1.6 trillion junk-bond market in recent years, attracted by the income the bonds paid above debt perceived as safer issued by investment-grade companies at a time of low interest rates.
The latest data follow a series of large weekly outflows from junk-bond funds and come amid a sharp slowdown in the market for high-yield bonds, where some borrowers have delayed scheduled debt sales and others have canceled planned deals.
Last Friday, S&P Capital IQ Leveraged Commentary & Data said that five high-yield deals had been held over the weekend. Bankers for energy company Warren Resources sweetened terms on a $300 million high-yield bond sale Wednesday, LCD said.