Rating actions so far in October remain largely positive. However, there has been a pick-up in the number of downgrades, particularly within sectors where recovery is slow or delayed, including building materials and real estate, hotels and gaming, and autos. The homebuilders and real estate sectors led downgrades over the last two weeks with five, all from China-based issuers. The downgrade ratio (downgrades as a percentage of total rating actions) increased this month, as there were only 23 downgrades against 23 upgrades. So far in 2021, there have been 540 issuers that have had a negative rating action and 1,491 issuers with a positive rating action. The largest percentage of rating actions has been due to an outlook revision to
