European credit spreads widen

European credit spreads widened on Tuesday, hurt by a large loss at US bank Wachovia Corp, but retraced from early morning wides as a drop in oil prices supported US equity markets, a trader said. By 1527 GMT, the Markit investment-grade iTraxx Europe index was at 95.5 basis points, according to Markit data, 1.5 basis points wider versus late on Monday.
That compared with 98 basis points in the morning. The iTraxx Crossover index, made up of 50 mostly "junk"-rated credits, was 6 basis points wider at 525 basis points. "The market sold off on Wachovia's results. The headline loss freaked a few people out, and it (the bank's credit rating) was downgraded as well," the trader said. He also cited underperformance of the tech sector after results overnight and in the morning, including disappointing guidance from Apple Inc and Ericsson. American Express reported a steeper-than-expected drop in quarterly earnings late on Monday, adding the even its best clients were spending less and taking longer to pay bills.
Elsewhere, spreads of European telecoms companies took a hit after mobile phone group Vodafone lowered its outlook for full-year revenue. Five-year credit default swaps on Vodafone were 6 basis points wider at 97.5 basis points, one trader in London said. Shares in the company fell 13 percent by 0839 GMT.
The trader said the news caused a ripple in the sector, pushing single-name spreads, including Sweden's Ericsson and Spain's Telefonica, between 3 and 6 basis points wider. CDS on Telefonica were 7 basis points wider at 100 basis points, a second trader said. Also, Ericsson's CDS widened 5 basis points to 163 basis points, despite the company posting better second-quarter earnings than expected.
In the cash bond market, the FTSE Euro Corporate Bond Index showed investment-grade corporate bonds in euros yielding an average 117.4 basis points more than similarly dated government bonds, 1.6 basis points more on the day.
In underlying government bond markets, the yield on the interest rate sensitive two-year Schatz was 4.558 percent, 6.1 basis points less on the day. The 10-year Bund yielded 4.606 percent, 2.6 basis points less. The 10-year euro swap rate was 5.046 percent.