CHINA MARKETS: Yuan Weaker; Rates Down; Stocks Up

     BEIJING (MNI) - The yuan fell against the U.S. dollar on Friday morning

after the People's Bank of China set a weaker fixing for the day and the U.S

dollar index rose.

     The yuan was last at 6.6762 against the U.S. unit, weaker than the official

closing price of 6.6699 on Thursday. It dropped to as low as 6.6842 in daily

trade, the weakest level since Aug. 17, when it hit 6.6870. 

     The PBOC set the yuan central parity rate against the U.S. dollar at 6.6369

Friday, weaker than Thursday's 6.6285. The PBOC has set the fixing weaker for

five consecutive trading days, and today's fixing was the lowest since Aug. 25.

     Money market rates were down even thought the PBOC drained a net CNY160

billion via open-market operations for the day. 

     The seven-day repo average was last at 2.8323%, lower than Thursday's

average of 2.9673%. The overnight repo average was at 2.7621%, also lower than

Tuesday's 2.9320%.

     The yield on benchmark 10-year China government bonds was last at 3.5879%,

up from the previous close of 3.5635%, according to Wind, a financial data

provider. 

     Stocks were up, led higher by shares of securities brokerages. The

benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was 0.30% higher at 3,349.61. Hong Kong's

Hang Seng Index was 0.22% higher at 27,482.99.

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

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

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