Bear Stearns High Yield Index down 0.23% in week, now 1.76% higher in 2004

New York, March 19 - The Bear Stearns High Yield Index continued its recent zig-zag path with a loss of 0.23% in the week to March 18.

The drop follows two weeks of gains - including a rise of 0.38% the previous week - and several weeks of up and down before that.

The index is now showing a total return of 1.76% so far this year.

Nine out of the 11 industry sectors making up the index were in the red in the most recent week.

Transportation led the way downwards with a 2.52% loss, mostly because of a 5.01% plunge in its airline component.

Transportation is now down 2.49% so far in 2004, the worst performance of any of the industry sectors. Similarly airlines is now down 6.62% year to date, the largest loss of any of the sub-sectors making up the 11 broader groups.

Until this week, telecommunications had been the only sector to show a loss for the year so far while the satellite component of telecommunications had been in last place among the sub-sectors.

Moving in the other direction, consumer cyclicals showed the biggest gain in the most recent week, adding 0.18% for a year-to-date return of 3.15%.

Finance remains the number one sector with a 3.48% gain despite losing 0.34% in the most recent week.

Textile and apparel took over as the top performing sub-sector for the year so far, ousting "other consumer non-cyclicals." After rising 0.44% in the seven days just completed, textile and apparel is now up 7.07% since Jan. 1.

The index's yield to worst ended the week at 7.57%, up 13 basis points from 7.44% the week before. The yield-to-worst spread widened 11 basis points to 497 basis points from 486 basis points.

The index ended the week to March 18 with a market value of $504.58 billion in 1,668 issues, less value but one more issue than $505.37 billion in 1,667 issues a week earlier.

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