Irene threat spurs repo traders

Earlier in the day, rates for borrowing and lending securities in the repurchase-agreement market rose and investors sought to extend maturities on concern power outages and closings of mass transit would keep traders home after Hurricane Irene hit.

Overnight general collateral Treasury repurchase (repo rates), opened at 0.10 per cent and traded at 0.13 per cent at 10 am New York time, according to data from ICAP Plc, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker.