Sunday, 7 August 2011

Money Market Rates Fall Below Zero as Treasury Bills Retain Haven Demand

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-04/money-market-rates-fall-below-zero-as-treasury-bills-retain-haven-demand.html

‘Excess Amounts’

Bank of New York Mellon’s announcement that it will begin charging clients a 13 basis point fee for “excess amounts of cash” helped accelerate the repricing of short-term U.S. government securities, Smedley said. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

The bank, in an Aug. 2 note to clients, said its deposits are surging as “investors en-masse de-risk and become highly liquid.” As markets stabilize and cash levels drop, “it is likely this fee will no longer be necessary,” the bank said in an e-mailed statement.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index tumbled 3 percent, and Treasury two-year yields fell to a record low amid concern the economy is weakening. The yen slid the most since 2008 against the dollar after Japan sold the currency to weaken it.



No comments:

Post a Comment