LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - The cost of insuring debt
issued by European sovereigns, major global banks and low-grade
European companies against default rose sharply on Wednesday
after fresh fears over the fallout from the coronavirus spread
and shutdowns roiled markets.
Among European sovereigns, non-core governments saw the
steepest increases with five-year credit default swaps (CDS) for
Portugal jumping 19 basis points (bps) to 167
bps - the highest since the summer of 2017, while Spain added 18
bps to hit a 5-1/2 year high of 166 bps, data from IHS Markit
showed.
Banks also felt the heat with CDS for U.S. lenders Morgan
Stanley jumping 22 bps to 174 bps, the highest
since summer 2013. JPMorgan Chase and BofA
both added 19 bps to fresh multi-year highs.
The Markit iTraxx Europe crossover CDS index,
which measures the cost of insuring exposure to a basket of
sub-investment grade European companies, extended gains to trade
87 bps higher at 697 bps - a fresh near-eight year high.
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)