Bear Stearns index drops 1.08% in week, now down 5.97% year to date

New York, July 5 - The Bear Stearns High Yield Index dropped 1.08% in the week just completed, dragging its year-to-date return down to negative 5.97%.

The fall came on the heels of a 5.87% plunge the week before, with the index now showing a negative performance for five consecutive weeks.

Hardest hit among the 11 broad industry sectors making up the index was technology, which fell 4.89%, taking its year-to-date return down to negative 8.95%. Also recording big drops were media, down 2.63%, transportation, off 2.49%, and utilities, 2.18% lower.

The previous week's biggest loser, telecommunications, lost a further 0.88% although that was far better than the precipitous 33.27% drop the week before. Telecommunications is now down 50.53% so far this year, by far the worst performance of any sector.

Only the finance sector managed to rise in the most recent week, adding 0.07% for a return of 6.54% so far in 2002.

Among narrow sub-sectors the worst performance was in satellites, which fell 6.44%. Their year-to-date return is now 8.13%.

For 2002 so far, the bottom sub-sector is long distance, down 74.88% despite a 4.84% rebound in the most recent week, which made it the biggest gainer for that period. The group had plunged 60.55% the previous week.

The index's yield to worst increased 35 basis points to 13.89% from 13.54% and the yield-to-worst spread widened 42 basis points to 984 basis points from 942 basis points.

Overall the index ended with a market value of $312.233 billion in 1,432 issues, less value but more issues than $314.279 billion in 1,427 issues a week earlier.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.