ECB allots EUR 70B in one day refi. This is an additional EUR 40B to the EUR 30B that expire today. Banks bid for a total of EUR 102.48B. Funds were allocated at an average of 4.40%, with a minimum bid rate of 4.25%, a top bid rate of 4.70% and a marginal rate of 4.32%, with 20.9% allocated at the marginal rate. The ECB is doing what it did then the financial crisis initially escalated last year, it pumps huge amounts of liquidity into the market rather than cutting interest rates, with the hope that the ready supply of funds will restore bank's confidence and spur the interbank market which threatens to dry up again. Overnight rates are slightly lower than earlier, but at 4.385% still remain at very elevated levels.