The high-yield market was weaker Monday pushing spreads and yields wider and prices lower for the second consecutive day after the market stalled Friday with equities plunging following the ECB’s decision to stay the course against expectations that we could see another round of monetary easing. The yield to worst and spread on the Bank of America High-Yield Index widened 6bps/8bps to 6.51%/+518bps yesterday. Issuance continued unabated as the primary market took the weakening secondary market in stride adding five new deals for $3.15 billion to the calendar. PDC Energy was the day’s only deal to price, bringing $400 million in senior notes at par to yield 6.125%, far tighter than initial price talk of 6.5% after there were over $1.5 billion in orders. WTI (West Texas Intermediate) closed at $46.29, up from a $45.88 close on Friday. Energy prices are opening under pressure this morning after the IEA said an oil glut could last longer than initially estimated, while the rest of the market opens basically flat. Most of the high-yield focus will remain on the new issue calendar today.

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.