One of the riskiest corners of global financial markets has made an unprecedented recovery in the past month, with prices of junk bonds rebounding as investors bet that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation will avoid triggering a deep recession.
The amount of US bonds trading at levels signalling severe investor concern has dropped rapidly over the past five weeks, in a reflection of increased optimism from investors about the state of the US economy.
Just 6.2 per cent of high-yield bonds are now trading at distressed levels, compared to 11.6 per cent on July 5, according to analysis by Marty Fridson, chief investment officer of Lehmann Livian Fridson Advisors.