Investors are on alert for a potential end-of-year increase in US overnight lending rates, with some calling for the Federal Reserve to slow the pace at which it shrinks its balance sheet to avoid the kind of liquidity crunch that hit funding markets five years ago.
Analysts and executives at several banks and asset managers told the Financial Times they were monitoring strains in short-term funding rates after an unexpected jump at the end of the third quarter.
The repo or repurchase market plays a critical role as a benchmark for broader US lending rates by setting a rate for investors to borrow cash overnight, in exchange for high-quality collateral such as US Treasuries.