Chinese markets will re-open later today,.....>

CHINA: Chinese markets will re-open later today, following the elongated LNY

break , which was of course a result of the Coronavirus outbreak/spread. We will

try to focus on market centric matters here, as we are not health experts!

Policymakers have been out in force over the weekend, in an attempt to shore up

investor confidence. Measures announced include CNY1.2tn worth of OMO liquidity

injections scheduled for Monday (although that equates to a net CNY150bn

injection, given that CNY1.05tn worth of reverse repos were set to mature

today). Various reports also pointed to the CSRC issuing a short selling ban in

domestic equity markets, although the duration of the move wasn't known.

- The weekend saw Hubei province (which houses the proverbial virus ground zero,

Wuhan) extend its LNY break to Feb 13. CNBC noted that "at least 21 provinces,

municipalities & other regions in China have told businesses not to resume work

before Feb. 10 at the earliest. Last year, those parts of China accounted for

more than 80% of national GDP, and 90% of exports, according to CNBC

calculations."

- Official pushes towards lending to firms hit by Coronavirus also continued.