** Biggest US high-yield bond ETF iShares HYG down slightly in pre-open trade as market eyes pressures in junk bond space, credit funds halting redemptions for signs of broader contagion
** HYG bid/ask 79.08/79.15 for drop of 0.6% in early activity vs Friday's 79.52 close; SPDR high-yield ETF JNK also down
** HYG slid Friday to close below 80 for first time since 2009 on record volume and turnover, with the $4.5 bln of turnover totaling 6x its average daily volume
** Redemptions halts, or "gating", at hedge funds Third Avenue/Stone Lion raise worries that investors may increase redemptions in high-yield or more liquid assets elsewhere
** So far problems remain limited to a few funds that appear to have been caught with very illiquid assets relative to the low-liquidity high-yield debt market
** While appearing a very different kind of credit market stress, the moves naturally recall some features of early 2007/08 subprime troubles at start of the financial crisis
** Related (RM: eric.burroughs.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)