Junk-bond Issuance Stops ‘Dead in its Tracks’ on Coronavirus Fears – Market Watch

Almost $3 billion has fled junk-bond exchange-traded funds in just the first two days of this week, issuance of new debt has dried up and underlying bonds have suffered their worst two-day slump since Brexit. It’s a sharp reversal for a bellwether corner of the debt market that until recently had been brushing aside concerns about the spread of the COVID-19 illness globally while offering investors some of the skimpiest yields to date.