The unprecedented worldwide surge in the market for bonds that are certain to lose money if held to maturity regained strength last month.

The total face value of negative-yielding corporate and sovereign debt in the Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate Index of investment-grade bonds jumped to $11.6 trillion as of Sept. 30, up 6.1% from a month earlier. That sum had fallen for two months in a row from June's $11.9 trillion peak.

Demand for the safety of high-quality bonds pushed up the totals in all but two of the 13 countries with more than $100 billion in negative-yielding debt. Italy's tally shrank by 9% to $361 million and Denmark's expanded more than a third to $104 million.

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