The index rose as the net number of rated high-yield companies with Moody's weakest speculative-grade liquidity (SGL-4) scores remained at 27 and the number of rated high-yield companies decreased by three to 124.
"The index -- which increases when speculative-grade liquidity appears to decrease -- remains well below the record high of 37.0% reached during the 4Q 2008 amid the global financial crisis," says Annalisa Di Chiara, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.
"It is a bit above the index's long-term rolling average of 20.3% but below its 12-month trailing average of 22.4%," adds Di Chiara.
All Chinese readings increased in December. The liquidity sub-index for Chinese speculative-grade companies climbed to 23.1% from 21.2% as the number of Chinese companies with SGL-4 scores rose to 15 from 14 and the total number of high-yield Chinese companies decreased to 65 from 66.
And China's high-yield property sub-index jumped to 17.9% from 15.4%, while the Chinese high-yield industrial sub-index rose slightly to 30.8% from 29.6% driven by the withdrawal of one issuer.
At the same time, the Indonesian sub-index increased slightly to 8.3% from 8.0% as the number of Indonesian companies with a SGL-4 score remained at two and the total number of high-yield Indonesian companies decreased by one to 24.
Finally, we closed out 4Q 2014 with a downgrade/upgrade ratio of 3.50x up from 1.14x for 3Q 2014 - and the highest quarterly ratio we have seen since 2Q 2012.
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