High-yield was steady and quiet yesterday as oil continued to rise and equities were steady, pushing the yield to worst and spread on the Bank of America High-Yield Index 1bp/3bps tighter to close at 6.26%/+420bps, respectively. The primary market continued its slowdown, pricing two small deals for $195 million on the day. For the month-to-date, the tally stands at 37 deals for $19.19 billion, the busiest December since 2013. Oil closed the day up 0.2% at $52.23. This morning the year end/Christmas slowdown continues with very little market activity to start, while oil hits a 18 month high and high-yield remains firm.

The Bank of America Merrill Lynch High Yield Index monitors the performance of below investment grade U.S. dollar-denominated corporate bonds publicly issued in the U.S. domestic market.  Index data sourced from Bloomberg. Yield referenced is the yield-to-worst and spread referenced is the spread-to-worst.