CHINA MARKETS: Yuan Weaker; Rates Mixed; Stocks Down

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

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

     The yuan was last at 6.6343 against the U.S. unit, compared with the

official closing price of 6.6200 on Wednesday. 

     The PBOC set the yuan central parity rate against the U.S. dollar at 6.6205

on Monday, weaker than Friday's 6.6092. It was the lowest fixing since Oct. 10

and the biggest daily drop since Oct. 9.

     Money market rates were mixed Monday morning after the PBOC injected CNY140

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

last at 2.7502% on Monday, much lower than Friday's average of 2.8265%. The

overnight repo average was at 2.6062%, higher than Friday's 2.5466%.

     The yield on benchmark 10-year China government bonds was last at 3.7325%,

up from the previous close of 3.7200%, according to Wind, a financial data

provider. 

     Stocks were down slightly, led lower by the financial trust and securities

brokerage sectors. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was last down 0.02% at

3,378.06. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.58% lower at 28,321.72.

--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$]