China's fixed income markets continue...>

CHINA RATES: China's fixed income markets continue to show little activity since

reopening from Chinese New Year, with swaps sticking to a tight range, balanced

by the PBOC's dovish stance and the ongoing rally in local stocks. Swaps curve

trades flat to lower today still clear of its Jan lows. 

- 10 year bond futures have recovered some of the slight losses seen over the

past two days, gaining 7 ticks to put the focus on the key 98.5 level.

- The PBOC skipped open market operations for a fourth consecutive day Thursday,

resulting in a net drain of CNY200 billion as that amount of reverse repos

matured. The 7-day weighted average interbank repo average rate closed at its

lowest level since 2015 yesterday at 2.2080% reflecting the PBOC's desire to

ease bank funding to boost credit growth.

- Focus turns to China's trade data which is due out any time, while trade talk

developments will also be keenly watched.