High yield was better on Tuesday to open the holiday shortened week as sentiment turned positive on improved oil pricing and stabilization out of China and Europe. The yield and spread on the Bank of America High-Yield Index tightened 18bps and 19bps yesterday to close at 9.78% and +845bps as the market continues the trend of volatile swings. This morning we’re opening up about ½ point generically as oil and equities continue their move higher and treasuries give back recent gains. High-yield retail cash flows turned positive yesterday after a start to the year that has seen outflows over five of the first six weeks, totaling just over $5 billion year-to-date. With the better tone to start the week we’ve seen a pickup in primary market activity with one new deal pricing yesterday for Prestige Brands, the first deal in over a week, and another announced this morning for MPT Operating Partnership, which plans to bring $400 million of new Ba1/BBB debt this afternoon.

The Bank of America Merrill Lynch High Yield Index monitors the performance of below investment grade U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market.  Index data sourced from Bloomberg. Yield referenced is the yield-to-worst and spread referenced is the spread-to-worst.