Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Interest rates on three-month dollar loans rose to a nine-month high, short-term corporate borrowing fell by the most ever and leveraged loans tumbled, exacerbating the credit freeze that's paralyzing businesses around the world.
The London interbank offered rate that banks charge each other for loans rose for a fourth day, driving a gauge of cash scarcity among banks to a record. The biggest drop in financial short-term debt outstanding since at least 2000 caused the U.S. commercial paper market to tumble 5.6 percent to a three-year low, according to the Federal Reserve.
The crisis deepened after the worst month for corporate credit on record. Leveraged loan prices plunged to all-time lows, short-term debt markets seized up and even the safest company bonds suffered the worst losses in at least two decades as investors flocked to Treasuries. Credit markets have frozen and money-market rates keep rising even after central banks pumped an unprecedented $1 trillion into the financial system.
``The credit window is closed,'' Jim Press, president of Chrysler LLC, the third-largest U.S. automaker, said today at the Paris Motor Show. The financial rescue plan must be approved because ``it's important for us to restore credibility in our banking system.''
The U.S. Senate passed the Bush administration's $700 billion bank-rescue package yesterday with inducements for the House of Representatives to approve the measure after an earlier version was rejected. The legislation, approved on a 74-25 vote, authorizes the government to buy troubled assets from banks rocked by record home foreclosures.
`Effectively Shut'
``It's going to get much, much worse,'' said Gregory Peters, head of credit strategy at Morgan Stanley in New York. ``The credit markets are effectively shut, the CP market, which there's not enough focus on, is under complete duress. That can't be sustained, as that's the lifeblood of corporations funding themselves.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0JbUyhTA71Y&refer=home
The London interbank offered rate that banks charge each other for loans rose for a fourth day, driving a gauge of cash scarcity among banks to a record. The biggest drop in financial short-term debt outstanding since at least 2000 caused the U.S. commercial paper market to tumble 5.6 percent to a three-year low, according to the Federal Reserve.
The crisis deepened after the worst month for corporate credit on record. Leveraged loan prices plunged to all-time lows, short-term debt markets seized up and even the safest company bonds suffered the worst losses in at least two decades as investors flocked to Treasuries. Credit markets have frozen and money-market rates keep rising even after central banks pumped an unprecedented $1 trillion into the financial system.
``The credit window is closed,'' Jim Press, president of Chrysler LLC, the third-largest U.S. automaker, said today at the Paris Motor Show. The financial rescue plan must be approved because ``it's important for us to restore credibility in our banking system.''
The U.S. Senate passed the Bush administration's $700 billion bank-rescue package yesterday with inducements for the House of Representatives to approve the measure after an earlier version was rejected. The legislation, approved on a 74-25 vote, authorizes the government to buy troubled assets from banks rocked by record home foreclosures.
`Effectively Shut'
``It's going to get much, much worse,'' said Gregory Peters, head of credit strategy at Morgan Stanley in New York. ``The credit markets are effectively shut, the CP market, which there's not enough focus on, is under complete duress. That can't be sustained, as that's the lifeblood of corporations funding themselves.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a0JbUyhTA71Y&refer=home