CHINA MARKETS: Yuan Weaker; Rates Mixed; Stocks Up

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

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

     The yuan was last at 6.6738 against the U.S. unit, 0.08% weaker than the

official closing price of 6.6687 on Monday. 

     The People's Bank of China set the yuan central parity rate against the

U.S. dollar at 6.6689 Tuesday, weaker than Monday's 6.6601. It was the first

weaker fixing set by the PBOC after five straight trading days of stronger

fixings. 

     Money market rates were mixed on Tuesday after the PBOC drained a net CNY28

billion. The PBOC injected CNY399.5 billion in one-year MLF instruments this

morning, but that was offset by the expiration of other Medium-term Lending

Facility instruments and reverse repos.

     The seven-day repo average was last at 2.7391% on Tuesday, lower than

Monday's average of 2.8933%. The overnight repo average was at 2.7820%, higher

than Monday's 2.7673%.

     Stocks rose, led higher by shares of banks after their release of positive

mid-year reports. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was up 0.79% at

3,262.92. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index was 0.49% higher at 27,383.01.

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