Libor Jumps to Highest in 14 Years Amid Year-End Funding Focus

The three-month London interbank offered rate for dollars climbed to the highest level since the financial crisis in an otherwise quiet day for the front-end of fixed income markets.

The benchmark rate for lending between banks rose for the third straight session, climbing roughly 5.9 basis points to 4.75729%, the highest since October 2008. The spread of Libor over overnight index swaps -- a barometer of funding pressure -- widened to 34 basis points on Wednesday from 29.6 basis points the prior session.

Such moves in the Libor are usually driven by expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate hikes. But ...