Sovereign Credit Risk Surges to Record Amid Confidence ‘Crisis’ - by Abigall Moses

Portugal and Greece led a surge in the cost of insuring against losses on sovereign debt to a record as concern that nations will struggle to cut budget deficits deepens a “crisis of confidence” in Europe.

The Markit iTraxx SovX Western Europe Index of credit- default swaps on the debt of 15 governments rose 12.5 basis points to 106.5, according to Deutsche Bank AG. Swaps on Portugal soared 31 basis points to 227, according to CMA DataVision, while contracts on Greece jumped 32.5 basis points to 430 and Spain increased 13 to 165.

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