U.S. corporate debt drops amid global markets selloff

U.S. corporate debt drops amid global markets selloff
Illustration shows U.S. dollar banknotes

NEW YORK – The prices of a major junk bond ETF fell on Thursday as investors pulled out of riskier assets amid a widespread selloff in global markets sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

BlackRock’s iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF – an exchange-traded fund which tracks the U.S. junk-bond market – fell 0.4% to trade $82.2 a share, its lowest since July 2020.

The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade Index, a basket of credit default swaps that serves as a gauge of credit risk, widened 3 basis point to 73 basis points, as investors hedged bets on a deterioration in credit quality.

(Reporting by Davide Barbuscia)

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