Benchmark three-month bank-to-bank lending rates were steady for the third day running on Thursday as excess cash in the banking system kept money markets in record low territory.

The three-month rate EURIBOR3MD=, traditionally the main gauge of interbank euro lending and a mix of interest rate expectations and bank’s appetite for lending, fixed again at 0.715 percent, a fraction above its all-time low of 0.714 percent.

One-year funds were also unchanged at 1.224 percent EURIBOR1YD= and six-month Euribor EURIBOR6MD= was steady at 0.987 percent.

The shorter-term one-week rate EURIBORSWD= bucked the trend, edging up to 0.365 percent from 0.364 percent.

The European Central Bank kept offical euro zone rates at a record low of 1.0 percent this month but took a step towards unwinding its generous liquidity policy by hinting it will probably not extend one-year lending operations past December.

Interbank rates have been falling for more than a year due to the ECB’s rapid run of official interest rate cuts and its massive injections of liquidity, although recent weeks have pointed to a reduction in excess cash.

Euribor rates are fixed daily by the Banking Federation of the European Union (FBE) shortly after 1000 GMT.

- For a table of the latest Euribor fixings for terms of one week to one year, double click on EURIBOR=

- For a table of the previous day’s fixings of EONIA swap rates, which show market expectations for future overnight lending rates, double click on EONIAINDEX

- For graphs of historic Euribor and EONIA swap rates, right click on the links in angle brackets below, and select ‘Related Graph’.