Asian junk bonds outperform investment-grade credit in Q1

ASIAN high-yield debt outperformed Asian "high grade" bonds in the first quarter of 2017, the Asia Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association said in a joint report on Tuesday.

They said Asian "high grade" bonds posted a total return of 2.13 per cent in Q1 2017, less than a 3.86 per cent gain in Asian junk bonds.

High-yield sovereign bonds were the "stand-out" gainers, up 4.92 per cent in the quarter, they said, adding that Mongolia's sovereign debt returned 12.54 per cent in total and Sri Lanka's returned 4.92 per cent.

The report defined "high grade" as having an "effective" credit rating of at least BBB- on Dealogic.