Oakley: Libor rise

The most important indicator in the markets, the spread between three-month dollar Libor and so-called "risk-free" overnight rates - deemed a pure measure of risk - rose to its highest level since August. This spread rose to 0.215 per cent yesterday, having been below 0.10 per cent before the most recent funding jitters emerged.

Three-month dollar Libor edged higher to 0.434 per cent - also a nine-month high. This daily setting has steadily risen from below 0.30 per cent just more than a month ago.