Japan Credit Market Update: Spreads widen on global equity nervousness

Japan’s credit default swap spreads widened across the board by about 20 basis points this week amid global equity nervousness, because of more corporate concerns, and a generally bearish market.

The market for credit protection has been attracting a solid volume of activity in recent days because of jitters in equity markets worldwide, traders said. “People are looking at the offshore equity markets and are worried about the impact on Japan,” said one Tokyo-based credit trader.

In Japan’s credit default swap market, electronics names were the most traded this week, widening by between 20 and 25 basis points from last week. On Friday, Fujitsu protection was at 155bp, Sony at 50bp, NEC at