Distressed bond market broadly lower; energy issues off across the board; Sprint battered

By Paul Deckelman

New York, Jan. 20 – Bonds of troubled companies were lower on Wednesday, distressed-debt traders said, part of an overall retreat by the broader high-yield bond market, which was seen taking its cues from falling equities and the continued slide in world crude oil prices.

The latter helped to weigh down the already battered bonds of oil and natural gas exploration and production companies such as Whiting Petroleum Corp., Chesapeake Energy Corp., Oasis Petroleum Inc., WPX Energy Inc., EP Energy Corp. and Memorial Production Partners, LP, among others.

In the convertibles market, E&P credits such as WPX and Stone Energy Corp. were under pressure.

And the same was true in the emerging markets space for such names as Petroleos Mexicanos SAB de CV and Petroleos de Venezuela SA.

The latter oil-dependent nation’s sovereign debt was down as well.

The carnage was not limited to the energy space.

Back among the junk bonds, the single worst-performing issue among the most actively traded credits was Sprint Corp.’s 7% notes due 2020, down more than a dozen points on the day. The No. 3 U.S. wireless carrier’s other bonds across its capital structure were all also seen down multiple points in very active dealings, and its stock slid badly as well.

The convertibles market meantime saw Fluidigm Corp.’s paper and that of Navistar International Corp. having been whacked down from Tuesday’s levels.

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