Euro Credit Market Views € - February 2026

Valentine Ainouz

Head of Global Fixed Income Strategy, Amundi Investment Institute

Sandrine Rougeron

Global Head of Corporate and Corporate Pension Funds Clients, Amundi

In a nutshell

Credit markets have demonstrated a certain resilience despite the return of volatility in the equity market and record volumes of corporate debt issuance.

Spreads have been generally stable since the beginning of the year. Certainly, credit markets have experienced a widening of spreads since a low point reached at the end of January. In the United States, the Investment Grade (IG) segment saw its spreads increase by 6 basis points, while the High Yield (HY) market recorded a more marked widening of 31 basis points. The same trend has been observed in Europe, where spreads for IG and HY bonds also widened, by 4 basis points and 12 basis points respectively. However, the current level of spreads - except for the US HY market - remains close to or below the levels seen at the end of December.

The volumes recorded in the primary market have been exceptionally strong and record-breaking in the US IG. Credit markets are experiencing a significant increase in issuance across multiple segments, driven by investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure. It is estimated that hyper scalers could bring to market over $400 billion in issuances in the Investment Grade segment this year. Due to this substantial volume of new issuances, bonds from tech issuers have underperformed compared to the rest of the credit market.

This significant increase in issuance has been fueled by robust demand from investors. The US IG has attracted record inflows. Investors want to take advantage of higher yield levels on debt compared to after the crisis, as a consequence of rising government bond yields. Strong demand is also explained by the solid fundamentals of companies. Unlike states, companies demonstrate prudent management of their balance sheets.

Financing conditions for companies are particularly good. The average borrowing premium that US and European IG companies pay compared to state debt has reached its lowest level since before the global financial crisis of 2008. The additional yield offered by High Yield bonds has also decreased significantly.

Primary market Investment Grade

Amundi Research composite of six Euro primary market charts showing monthly IG issuance (bar chart), cumulative IG flows (line), cumulative HY issuance, and monthly IG volumes by maturity, rating and country; color-coded series, axes and legends, data as of 30 Jan 2026.

Market data

Four-panel Amundi chart set displaying Euro IG and Euro IG BBB spreads (OAS) and yields by maturity: top-left IG OAS, top-right IG yields, bottom-left BBB OAS, bottom-right BBB yields; dated series (24-Mar-23, 28-Nov-25, 30-Jan-26), markers, legends and maturity labels.

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