JPMorgan Chase & Co. is tightening its grip on the global corporate bond market, taking share from Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. and topping all underwriters as companies sold a record $1.17 trillion of debt.

The most profitable U.S. bank's underwrote 7.1 percent of all bond sales in the three months ended March 31, up from 6.5 percent in 2011, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Citigroup moved up two spots to second with 5.7 percent, the same amount it captured last year. Bank of America dropped to third with 5.6 percent, down from 6.1 percent in 2011. Deutsche Bank AG, which dropped to fourth from third, handled 5.5, down from 5.9.

JPMorgan is leading banks reaping the benefits of a Federal Reserve outlook that benchmark interest rates will hold near zero until at least late 2014 and an easing in Europe's debt crisis that has bolstered confidence that default rates will stay below the historical averages. Increased demand for higher-yielding assets is allowing companies from Australia to Amsterdam to borrow at record-low rates.