Euro area banking stress indicator jumps to eight-month high

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - An indicator of credit risk in the euro area banking system leapt to its highest since mid-July on Tuesday, reflecting the rising levels of investor panic about contagion risk from the collapse of three U.S. banks in under a week. The so-called FRA-OIS spread , which measures the gap between the euro zone three-month forward rate agreement and the overnight index swap rate, jumped to as much as 21.08 basis points on Tuesday, the most since July 19 2022. European banks have been clobbered in particular by the collapse over the weekend of Silicon Valley Bank . Although analysts say there is little risk of actual contagion from SVB, the failure of the bank has raised doubts among investors about the robustness of banks' balance sheets, especially now interest rates are rising. An index of European banking stocks has lost over 11% in value in the last three trading days alone, as banking shares around the world have been battered.
(Reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Alun John)

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