Weekly Fixed Income Market Update: January 23, 2025

2 min read
Share this post
Printable Version
  • As investors absorbed a barrage of policy announcements following President Trump’s inauguration during Monday’s market holiday, the US economy showed continued signs of resilience
    • Manufacturing and industrial production indicators for December exceeded forecasts, growing at a monthly rate of 0.6% and 0.9% respectively, and signaling stabilization within manufacturing after two years of weakness
    • December’s housing starts saw a 15.8% boost and showed a rebound in multifamily home groundbreakings, which took longer to restart than single-family housing, after October’s hurricanes
  • Treasury yields fell earlier in the week before reversing and ending the period higher as the market digested the effect of potential tariffs
    • Rates in the belly of the curve ended the week higher, led by the 2-year which rose 3bps, while long-end yields fell as the 30-year rate decreased by 5bps
  • Investment-grade issuance slowed following the MLK holiday, with $19 billion of new corporate bonds pricing; this amount trailed expectations of $25 billion and was less than half of the $57 billion issued last week
    • The investment-grade corporate market held relatively steady over the week as spreads tightened by 1bp to 79bps and yields fell by 4bps to 5.36%
  • The high-yield market had a similarly light week with just over $500 million of new issues priced; high-yield spreads narrowed by 12bps to 256bps as yields fell by 13bps to 7.23%
  • The securitized sector, apart from asset-backed securities (ABS), has outperformed Treasuries month-to-date; within ABS, rate recovery bonds in particular underperformed as California wildfires continued
  • Munis outperformed Treasuries as muni/Treasury ratios fell across the curve during the abbreviated week, following last week’s muted inflows into municipal bond mutual funds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources: Bloomberg and Bloomberg Index Services Limited. All commentary and data as of 1/23/25 unless otherwise noted.

Excess returns are the curve-adjusted excess return of a given index relative to a term structure-matched position in Treasuries. The views contained in this report are those of IR+M and are based on information obtained by IR+M from sources that are believed to be reliable but IR+M makes no guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of the underlying third-party data used to form IR+M’s views and opinions. This report is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide specific advice, recommendations, or projected returns for any particular IR+M product. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission from Income Research + Management. “Bloomberg®” and Bloomberg Indices are service marks of Bloomberg Finance L.P. and its affiliates, including Bloomberg Index Services Limited (“BISL”), the administrator of the index (collectively, “Bloomberg”) and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by IR+M. Bloomberg is not affiliated with IR+M, and Bloomberg does not approve, endorse, review, or recommend the products described herein. Bloomberg does not guarantee the timeliness, accurateness, or completeness of any data or information relating to any IR+M product.

Share this post

Related posts

View All
6 min read

Bond Appétit - The Active Manager's Discerning Palate

4 min read

The Next Hundred Days and Beyond

3 min read

Cashing In On Your Second Chance

As of 12/31/25 unless otherwise stated. Personnel as of 1/27/26.
@ 2026 Income Research + Management. All Rights Reserved.
chevron-down