CHINA MARKETS: Yuan Weaker; Rates Mixed; Stocks Down

     BEIJING (MNI) - The yuan fell against the U.S. dollar Monday after the

People's Bank of China set a weaker daily fixing. 

     The yuan was last at 6.7245 against the U.S. unit compared with the

official closing price of 6.7181 on Friday.

     The PBOC set the yuan central parity rate against the U.S. dollar at 6.7228

on Monday compared with Friday's 6.7132 and was the weakest since Monday week

when the fixing was 6.7283

     Money-market rates were mixed after the PBOC's open-market operations

resulted in a net drain of CNY60 billion for the day. The seven-day repo average

was last at 2.6954% Monday compared with Friday's average of 2.7879%. The

overnight repo average was at 2.7121% compared with Friday's 2.6616%.

     The yield on benchmark 10-year China government bonds was last at 3.6734%

compared with the previous close of 3.8081%, according to Wind, a financial-data

provider. 

     Stock prices were lower and led down by the coal-mining and

animal-husbandry sectors. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was last down

0.03% at 3,261.10 points. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.35% higher at

27,660.11 points.

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

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