Benchmark may rise to most in 19 months

SINGAPORE - China's benchmark money-market rate may climb to a 19-month high as lenders set aside more reserves and demand for the biggest share offering in 2010 drains funds, according to Deutsche Bank AG.

Investors should pay fixed rates on three-month interest-rate swaps to gain from higher short-term borrowing costs, according to Linan Liu, a strategist at Germany's biggest bank. The seven-day repurchase rate, a gauge of banks' funding availability, may climb to 3 percent, a level last seen in October 2008, she predicted.

China's securities regulators may this week review a $30 billion stock sale by Agricultural Bank of China Ltd, according to people familiar with the plan.