Credit trends remain positive, despite recent market volatility, with upgrades outnumbering downgrades for a sixth consecutive month--the longest monthly streak since 2021. July’s upgrades were concentrated among financial institutions, almost exclusively from Europe (six out of seven). Financial institutions account for the second highest number of upgrades in the year-to-date (38), closely following media and entertainment (41). Negative rating actions continue to fall, with net bias at its highest level since February 2023. Downgrade activity remains primarily concentrated at the 'B-' and 'CCC/C' levels. Global corporate defaults are still elevated but, in our base-case forecast, we expect U.S. and European speculative-grade default rates to fall to 3.75% and 4.25%, respectively, by June 2025.