Insurance company credit spreads rally after rate cuts

NEW YORK, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Credit spreads for insurance companies rallied on Wednesday in the wake of a series of rate cuts led by the U.S. Federal Reserve and global central banks.

Credit default swaps spreads for companies such as XL Capital, Metlife Inc, Hartford Financial and Prudential Financial Inc all posted large gains, according to CMA DataVision data.

Five-year credit default swaps of XL Capital (XL.N) fell to 683 basis points, or $683,000 a year to protect $10 million of debt, down from 807 basis points on Tuesday, according to data from CMA DataVision. (Reporting by Walden Siew; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)