European credit default swap spreads widened on Friday ahead of a roll-over to a new series of CDS indexes that start trading on Monday. The flow of new bond issuance slowed down slightly but there has already been about 19.5 billion euros of non-financial corporate issuance so far in September.
By 1541 GMT, the investment-grade Markit iTraxx Europe index was at 87 basis points, according to data from Markit, 4 basis points wider versus late on Thursday. The Markit iTraxx Crossover index, made up of 44 mostly "junk"-rated credits, was at 526.50 basis points, 4.50 basis points wider.