An increasing number of investors in European fixed income markets expect fundamental credit conditions will deteriorate across sectors, according to a Fitch Ratings survey.
The more circumspect sentiment was most notable for the sovereign segment, where the proportion of survey respondents anticipating worsening conditions more than doubled to 55%, from 24% in the last survey.
The gloomier outlook appears to reflect rising recession fears and low inflation expectations.
Nevertheless, the insatiable hunger for high yield (HY) continues, stoked by continued ultra-easy monetary policy. 27% of respondents voted HY their most favoured investment choice, down from 29% in the last quarter, but still clearly ahead of runners-up emerging-market (EM) corporates and banks. Investors expect the appetite for yield to be met by willing issuers in the HY and EM corporate segments; the only sectors which a majority of investors believe will see increasing issuance in the next 12 months. The HY issuance boom has been supported by historically low default rates.
Fitch conducted the Q213 survey between 3 April and 7 May. It represents the views of managers of an estimated EUR8.6trn of fixed-income assets. The full survey report is available here.
Technorati Tags: European bonds, fixed-income, high-yield
From Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services estimates North American nonfinancial corporations’ financing needs over the next five years (2013-2017) at $13.5 trillion to $14.3 trillion, with two-thirds to be applied toward refinancing and the remainder toward new investment. The U.S. makes up the lion’s share of this North American debt need, [...]
Read the rest of this entry »
Despite the drop in the U.S. jobless rate to 7.5%, Oxford Analytica warns that the large number of long-term unemployed does not bode well for future economic growth.
Excerpted from UNITED STATES: Skills mismatch feeds jobless recovery
While the continuing slow, steady improvement in the job market will gratify the administration and the Federal Reserve, [...]
Read the rest of this entry »
From Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services
Credit quality for the U.S. health insurance sector is strong with limited potential for change in the next 12 months based on sector fundamentals.
In Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services’ opinion, most rated health insurers remain generally sound financially as they position themselves for reform-driven change in the marketplace.
Read the rest of this entry »
Standard & Poor’s examines why the credit quality of US states has fared better than that of Euro member states during the “Great Recession.”
Excerpted from The End Of A Beautiful Relationship? U.S. Fiscal Federalism, State Credit Quality, And Changing Times
For some individual U.S. states, the economic contraction was even more pronounced than it was [...]
Read the rest of this entry »
Online ad spending will surpass national TV in 2015, according to Standard and Poor’s.
From Industry Report Card: The Media And Entertainment Industry Is Casting For Green Shoots
We expect core ad spending to grow at or slightly less than the rate of GDP, in a convergence of several trends. Print-based advertising is likely to [...]
Read the rest of this entry »
Technology companies rated by Moody’s are expected to pay out $44.4 billion to shareholders this year, up 35% from last year.And after its recently announced 15% dividend increase, Apple will pay out more than $11 billion in 2013, the most of any company in the US non-financial sector.
The [...]
Read the rest of this entry »
Japan’s latest effort to escape deflation and revive economic growth is a drastic departure from the policies of previous governments, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services said in a report published today.
At this stage, however, a more than one-third chance remains that we will lower our ‘AA-’ long-term sovereign ratings [...]
Read the rest of this entry »
The degree of global oversight of systemically important insurers will remain lighter than for systemically important banks, says Oxford Analytica.
Competitive global pressures are leading to a commonality in certain key aspects of insurance regulation — as some regulators seek to avoid disadvantaging their country’s companies in global markets. However, the regulatory [...]
Read the rest of this entry »
After years of tenuous signals, the U.S. housing recovery is now finally on better footing, according to Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services
Why is this time different? The most critical indicator is home prices, which increased 6.8% nationally in 2012 and which Standard & Poor’s expects to [...]
Read the rest of this entry »
