A tentative recovery in the US corporate loans market has ground to a halt after a glut of new issues and stock market volatility drove loan prices down to their lowest levels since early August.

The average loan prices for regularly-traded securities fell to 95.42 per cent of face value last week, down 282 basis points from their recent high of 98.24 per cent on October 11, and the lowest reading since August 2, according to Standard & Poor’s LCD, a loan market research company.