Corporate bond traders said that prices of most investment-grade securities were little changed on the day.

Activity in the secondary market for investment-grade corporate securities was slow, traders said.

And barring insolvency, any loss can be avoided by holding these investment-grade securities until maturity in December 2002, less than three years away.

Elsewhere, trading in the secondary market for investment-grade corporate securities was light, dealers said.

The returns on bread-and-butter businesses like investment-grade securities have slipped.

A number of new issues were offered in the market for investment-grade corporate securities.

Activity in the secondary markets for municipal and investment-grade securities was very light, dealers said.

This is about seven times greater than the default rate of investment-grade securities.

Traders in the secondary market for investment-grade corporate securities said prices of most issues fell by about 1/4 of a point.

The fall in Treasury prices once again took a toll on the secondary market for investment-grade corporate securities.