HY Credit Spread (OAS) in 2019
HY Credit Spread (OAS) opened 2019 at 535 bps and closed at 360 bps, a -32.71% move for the year. The high of 544 bps was reached on January 3, and the low of 351 bps on December 18.
Monthly Breakdown
| Month | Open | Close | High | Low | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 535 bps | 437 bps | 544 bps | 427 bps | -18.32% |
| Feb | 429 bps | 392 bps | 432 bps | 392 bps | -8.62% |
| Mar | 386 bps | 405 bps | 418 bps | 386 bps | +4.92% |
| Apr | 394 bps | 373 bps | 395 bps | 364 bps | -5.33% |
| May | 371 bps | 459 bps | 459 bps | 371 bps | +23.72% |
| Jun | 470 bps | 407 bps | 470 bps | 395 bps | -13.40% |
| Jul | 399 bps | 393 bps | 411 bps | 389 bps | -1.50% |
| Aug | 410 bps | 413 bps | 453 bps | 408 bps | +0.73% |
| Sep | 413 bps | 402 bps | 423 bps | 377 bps | -2.66% |
| Oct | 408 bps | 415 bps | 440 bps | 385 bps | +1.72% |
| Nov | 409 bps | 402 bps | 418 bps | 396 bps | -1.71% |
| Dec | 403 bps | 360 bps | 414 bps | 351 bps | -10.67% |
Events During 2019
Hong Kong's 2019 protests over an extradition bill and Beijing's 2020 National Security Law reshaped the territory's role as Asia's financial hub. Capital outflows, reduced multinational presence, and regulatory divergence from the West had durable effects on regional finance.
Overnight repo rates spiked from 2% to 10% on September 17, 2019, forcing the Fed to intervene with its first open market operations since 2008. The episode revealed structural strains in US money markets that persisted into 2020.
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