Banks Gain to Strongest Since Europe Bailout: Credit Markets
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Bank bonds are the most expensive relative to the debt of non-financial companies since before European leaders crafted a $1 trillion bailout as concern eases the region’s sovereign debt crisis will spark more losses.
Securities sold by lenders from JPMorgan Chase & Co. to BNP Paribas SA yield 203 basis points more than government debt on average, versus 148 for industrial companies, Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes show. The 55-basis-point gap has shrunk from 88, or 0.88 percentage point, in May, led by gains in bonds of French lenders BNP Paribas and Societe Generale SA.