1840 ET [Dow Jones]--The lower levels of debt that U.S. businesses carry today, compared to the years leading to the financial crisis, are helping them avoid defaults despite higher interest rates and market volatility, Blackstone President Jonathan Gray says during an earnings call. "The reason you're not seeing, I believe, credit stress as you have in the past is because the overall system is much less leveraged," he says. He adds that the sharp rise in interest rates that began about three years ago is a case in point. "If we had said to people the Fed's going to take rates up 550 basis points you would have expected to see a pretty meaningful default cycle across noninvestment-grade credits," Gray says. "You haven't seen that." (luis.garcia@wsj.com)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 17, 2025 18:45 ET (22:45 GMT)
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