Indonesia: Asia High Yield Bond Index, Japfa Comfeed Indonesia and more

One of the largest credit ETFs, the iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (known as LQD) rose by the most in a year, as per Bloomberg. The ETF also saw its biggest 4-day rally since May 2020. On February 24, the ETF traded at 122.4 and closed on March 1 at 124.97, up 2% during the period. LQD, which has an AUM of over $36bn. Bloomberg notes that the move, being an unexpected rebound comes at a time when short interest (Term of the Day, explained below) was at an all-time high. Short interest has now eased from almost 27% of outstanding shares to about 21%. “Spreads have widened to a point where investment-grade credit once again offers at least something resembling relative value”, said Dan Krieter, a strategist at BMO Capital Markets.