Tender rates skyrocket in Europe

LONDON (Dow Jones)--European banks abruptly hiked the rate of interest they are willing to pay for central bank overnight funds Tuesday as liquidity tensions deepened following the collapse of a bailout plan for the U.S. banking sector.

The single rate paid in the European Central Bank's regular one-day dollar tender hit 11.00% Tuesday, almost quadruple Monday's 3.00%. The weighted average accepted rate in the Bank of England's overnight dollar repurchase operation more than doubled to 5.211%, from 2.408% Monday.

The ECB also said it would offer a further $50 billion in an overnight dollar tender later Tuesday.
The surge in rates in both auctions comes despite the announcement by the U.S. Federal Reserve, ECB, Bank of England, and seven other central banks Monday that they were dramatically increasing the amount of dollar funding available to ease strains in short-term funding markets.

It follows the rejection of a $700 billion bailout plan for the banking system by the U.S. Congress, and indicates banks are willing to offer much higher rates in order to have the certainty of being able to secure funds.

The dollar overnight London interbank offered rate fixed at 6.875% Tuesday, up very sharply from 2.56875% Monday.

The ECB said it received 57 bids totaling $77.339 billion for its one-day dollar tender, in which it allocated $30 billion.

The BOE said demand for its overnight dollar auction of up to $10 billion picked up slightly to $13.65 billion from $13.06 billion Monday. The bank allotted the total amount on offer.

By Natasha Brereton and Emese Bartha, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 20 7842 9254