DISTRESS WATCH: Credit Market Bifurcation Is ‘Here to Stay’

Prices for riskier junk debt plunged last week as the divergence with more robust credits continues to grow.

Risk-off sentiment, fueled by the quick unraveling of First Brands and mounting US-China trade tensions, is pushing investors to sell. But distressed buyers have stayed on the sidelines in recent weeks as they wait for prices to fall even further, and the absence of bids is making the downward moves even steeper, according to several credit fund managers who spoke to Bloomberg News on condition of anonymity.

That’s particularly true in Europe where “we are seeing bifurcation in the market stay structurally ...