Spreads widen on Munich Re, Aegon, BA Systems and Fiat

Credit default swap spreads widened this week on Munich Re, Aegon, BAE systems and Fiat. But traders said trading was thin and there was very limited movement in other credit spreads in the European market.

“Apart from on a few names no-one is really buying or selling anything,” said one trader at a London-based dealer at a large US house. “This week there has been a bit of decoupling from market sentiment, and spreads on specific names are only really reacting in reference to newsworthy events.”

In financials, insurers Munich Re and Aegon were both downgraded on Wendnesday, pushing their spreads wider. S&P lowered German Munich Re’s ratings to AA+ from AAA, and Moody’s lowered Dutch insurer Aegon