As has been widely documented, high-yield corporate bond ETFs have been getting pounded in recent sessions as stocks slide.
Over the past week, the iShares iBoxx $ High Yield Corporate Bond ETF (NYSEArca: HYG) and SPDR Barclays High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEArca: JNK) were among the least popular ETF trades, experiencing $1.3 billion and $496 million in net outflows, respectively. The losses from HYG were the biggest since October 2016, Bloomberg reports.
HYG, the largest high-yield corporate bond ETF by assets, is in poor technical shape, a notable trait when considering history shows the fund often continues struggling when it slides below its 200-day moving average. HYG currently resides about 2% below that key technical indicator.
“We see a potentially significant bearish tell from the action around HYG’s 200-day trendline. Namely, after numerous ‘holds’ at 200-day support since mid-2016, the aforementioned breach of this trendline has been followed by multiple failed retake attempts,” according to Schaeffer’s Investment Research.