The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade Index, a credit-default swaps benchmark that investors use to hedge against losses or to speculate on creditworthiness, rose 2.1 basis points to a mid-price of 87.5 basis points, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg.

The Markit iTraxx Europe Index, tied to 125 companies with investment-grade ratings, increased 2.8 to 113.8 at 11:55 a.m. in London. In the Asia-Pacific region, the Markit iTraxx Asia index of 40 investment-grade borrowers outside Japan climbed 2.6 to 109.7.

JPMorgan’s mortgage offering may close this month, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Servicers of the underlying loans may include the New York-based lender, First Republic Bank and Johnson Bank, said the person, who asked not to be identified because terms aren’t set.

Loan Warranties

The New York-based bank is telling investors the deal’s terms may allow some of the so-called representations and warranties about the mortgages from originators or itself to expire after 36 months to 60 months, the person said. Such contract clauses, which can be used to force loan repurchases, have led to billions of dollars of costs for banks on debt made during the housing boom.

Bonds of New York-based Morgan Stanley were the most actively traded dollar-denominated corporate securities by dealers yesterday, accounting for 7.7 percent of the volume of trades of $1 million or more, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

The biggest financial brokerage sold $2.5 billion of 3.75 percent, 10-year notes at a yield of 178 basis points more than similar-maturity Treasuries, $1.25 billion of 1.75 percent, three-year debt at a spread of 140 basis points and $750 million of three-year, floating-rate notes at 125 basis points more than the London interbank offered rate, Bloomberg data show.

Junk Volatility

Morgan Stanley, based in New York, last sold benchmark debt on Jan. 23, issuing $500 million of 2.01 percent, three-year debt at a relative yields of 162.7 basis points, the data show.

The measure of swings in relative yields of U.S. speculative-grade corporate bonds averaged 20 in the 30 days ended Feb. 8, up from 10.5 on Dec. 31, according to Barclays Plc index data compiled by Bloomberg. The volatility gauge declined to 16 basis points on Feb. 20, the data show.