CHINA MARKETS: Yuan Stronger; Rates Mixed; Stocks Rise

     BEIJING (MNI) - The yuan rose against the U.S. dollar Thursday morning

after the People's Bank of China set a stronger daily fixing. 

     The yuan was last at 6.6339 against the U.S. unit, compared with the

official closing price of 6.6408 on Wednesday. 

     The PBOC set the yuan central parity rate against the U.S. dollar at 6.6288

on Thursday, modestly stronger than Wednesday's 6.6322. It was the first time

this week the PBOC has set a stronger fixing. 

     Money market rates were mixed Thursday morning after the PBOC injected

CNY20 billion in liquidity via open-market operations. The seven-day repo

average was last at 2.8354% Thursday, lower than Wednesday's average of 2.9286%.

The overnight repo average was at 2.6755%, higher than Wednesday's 2.6691%.

     The yield on benchmark 10-year China government bonds was last at 3.8000%,

up from the previous close of 3.7850%, according to Wind, a financial data

provider. 

     Stocks were up, led higher by the food and beverage sector and insurance

sector. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was last up 0.21% at 3,404.10.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.23% lower at 28,236.83. 

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: iris.ouyang@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: vince.morkri@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,M$$FI$,MN$FI$,MN$FX$]