MNI EUROPEAN OPEN: A New Dawn Brings Little Change To Broader Headline Flow

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• BIDEN STIMULUS GETS SKEPTICAL RESPONSE FROM GOP MODERATES (BBG)
• BIDEN'S TEAM WORRIES ABOUT NEW STRAIN (BBG)
• CHINA'S BIG THREE STATE TELCOS SEEK REVIEW OF NYSE DELISTING (BBG)
• BIDEN & TRUDEAU TO SPEAK ON FRIDAY AFTER ALBERTA PREMIER POINTS TO POSSIBLE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS
• OXFORD SCIENTISTS PREPARING NEW VACCINE VERSIONS TO COMBAT EMERGING COVID STRAINS (TELEGRAPH)
• BOJ ON HOLD; KEEPS FORWARD GUIDANCE

Fig. 1: DXY

Source: MNI - Market News/Bloomberg

UK

CORONAVIRUS: The U.K. suffered its worst day in the pandemic, with more than 1,800 deaths recorded in 24 hours, as Boris Johnson's chief scientific adviser warned some hospitals now look "like a war zone." The record daily toll takes the total number of people who have died within 28 days of a positive test in the U.K. to 93,290. Almost 40,000 patients are now receiving treatment in U.K. hospitals. (BBG)

CORONAVIRUS: Lifting coronavirus restrictions too quickly would be "insanity", Sir Patrick Vallance warned as it emerged that Britain is likely to learn whether the lockdown will start to ease before the first formal review next month. The chief scientific adviser delivered a blunt message to those "perpetually" calling for restrictions to be lifted. "It's worth remembering Albert Einstein's definition of insanity — doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome," he said. "The lesson is every time you release it too quickly you get an upswing."

FISCAL: Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak is drawing up plans to extend support for U.K. jobs in the months ahead as the pandemic lockdown continues to damage businesses and threaten a surge in unemployment, according to people familiar with the matter. The government's flagship 60 billion-pound ($82 billion) furlough program, paying as much as 80% of workers' wages, is due to expire at the end of April but Sunak is weighing various options to support jobs into the summer, they said. (BBG)

BOE: MNI BRIEF: BOE Bailey: Effects Of Lockdowns Diminishing

• Evidence suggested that successive Covid-19 lockdowns are having progressively less impact on the economy, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told at a Citizens Panel event Wednesday - on MNI Main Wire and email now - for more details please contact sales@marketnews.com.

BOE: MNI BRIEF: BOE Bailey: Sensible To Have Negative Option

• The impact of cutting the policy rate into negative territory was far less clear than the impact of cutting it when the rate remains positive but it would be "sensible to have the ability to set negative interest rates," Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said Wednesday - on MNI Main Wire and email now - for more details please contact sales@marketnews.com.

ECONOMY: MNI BRIEF: UK Pay Awards Unchanged in December

• UK headline pay awards were muted in the three months to December, coming in at 2.0% unchanged on the previous month, data published by XpertHR Thursday showed. Pay awards in the 12 months to December stood at a median 2.0%, down from 2.5% recorded a year earlier. In 2020, 19.3% of pay settlements resulted in no increase for employees compared to 5.3% in 2019 - on MNI Main Wire and email now - for more details please contact sales@marketnews.com.

BREXIT: The EU is prepared to ease post-Brexit border friction if Britain drops its plan to create a "Singapore on the Thames", according to senior diplomatic sources. Problems and delays at borders are increasingly affecting exports, with fish and meat sellers hit particularly hard. European diplomatic sources have indicated that Brussels is open to talks on freeing up trade but only if Boris Johnson abandons plans to tear up EU rules such as the working time directive. "Of course we can in future discuss how to have less friction," a senior European diplomat said. However, he added: "Discussing further facilitation or ways to reduce friction would depend on what the UK is doing and where they want to go. (The Times)

BREXIT: Food supply problems into Northern Ireland from Great Britain are "clearly a Brexit issue", Ireland's foreign affairs minister has said. Simon Coveney said the shortages were "part of the reality" of the UK leaving the EU. "Let's not pretend Brexit doesn't force that kind of change," he said, speaking on ITV's Peston programme On Tuesday, the NI secretary said images of empty supermarket shelves had "nothing to do with the protocol". (BBC)

BREXIT: A diplomatic row has broken out between the UK and EU over the status of the bloc's ambassador in London. The UK is refusing to give Joao Vale de Almeida the full diplomatic status that is granted to other ambassadors. The Foreign Office is insisting he and his officials should not have the privileges and immunities afforded to diplomats under the Vienna Convention. It is understood not to want to set a precedent by treating an international body in the same way as a nation state. (BBC)

EUROPE

CORONAVIRUS: European governments would be allowed to ban all UK residents from entering their countries and to cut all passenger transport links with Britain under a German proposal to the EU, seen by The Times and to be discussed today. "Where member states consider this necessary to protect public health, they are free to impose temporary bans on entry and on transporting passengers entering from [non-EU] countries with virus variant areas," the proposal said. (The Times)

FISCAL: MNI SOURCES: EU Officials Fear Politics To Delay Covid Funds

• The crisis within Italy's ruling coalition and the resignation of the Dutch government at the weekend are raising concerns among EU officials of delays in what they had hoped would be a tight timetable of ratifications of a key element of Europe's EUR672.5 billion Covid Recovery and Resilience Facility by the European and national parliaments - on MNI Main Wire and email now - for more details please contact sales@marketnews.com.

ITALY: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Wednesday won lawmakers' backing for 32 billion euros ($39 billion) of extra spending as he tries consolidate support for what's now a minority government. (BBG)

NORWAY: "There is still considerable uncertainty about the economic outlook in Norway and internationally," Norway's Ministry of Finance said. "Banks should therefore, in line with recommendations from the European Systemic Risk Board, apply caution in distributing profits until Sept. 30." (BBG)

U.S.

FED: MNI INTERVIEW: Fed Paper Makes New Case for Standing Repo Tool

• A standing repo facility might have helped the Federal Reserve head off unexpected money market turbulence as it shrank its balance sheet going into 2019, the authors of a new Kansas City Fed paper told MNI, renewing arguments for adding such a tool down the line - on MNI Main Wire and email now - for more details please contact sales@marketnews.com.

FISCAL: President Joe Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan got a skeptical response from two Senate Republicans whose backing he would likely need for quick congressional passage. Senators Mitt Romney of Utah and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska -- both members of the bipartisan group of senators who helped propel talks on last month's $900 billion stimulus legislation -- indicated Wednesday it was too soon since that bill was enacted to look at a fresh dose of spending. Their comments raise the stakes for the Biden administration's outreach to lawmakers, amid discussions about a potential weekend meeting. "We just passed a program with over $900 billion in it," Romney told reporters shortly after Biden's inauguration. "I'm not looking for a new program in the immediate future."

FISCAL: A Fox reporter tweeted the following on Wednesday: "Wall Street firms guidance from DC lobbyists is that @JoeBiden doesnt have votes for entire $1.9 trillion stimulus, will have to pare it back to essentials such as Covid relief, checks to individuals. Tax increases likely later in year." (MNI)

FISCAL: Senate Finance Cmte sets Jan. 22 hearing on nomination of Janet Yellen to be Treasury sec., according to cmte notice. (BBG)

FISCAL: The U.S. Senate Finance Committee is unlikely to vote on the nomination of Janet Yellen for Treasury Secretary until next week, congressional sources said on Wednesday despite a push by Democrats to confirm her on Thursday. News of the expected delay came as the new administration of President Joe Biden, who was sworn in on Wednesday, named several people to senior Treasury posts. (RTRS)

FISCAL: President Joe Biden may have been inaugurated just hours ago, but he's already making headway on his plans for economic recovery. Biden signed an executive order today extending the federal student loan forbearance period until at least Sep. 30. The forbearance period started on Mar. 13 2020, so the total forbearance period will be 18 months by the time it ends, unless there are further extensions. (Forbes)

CORONAVIRUS: One year to the day since the first diagnosed case of coronavirus in the US, the country reported a record daily increase in its Covid-19 death toll as the Biden administration took over the country's response to the pandemic. Authorities attributed a further 4,409 fatalities to coronavirus, more than double the 2,141 reported on Tuesday, according to Covid Tracking Project data. That surpassed the previous daily record of 4,087 on January 13. (FT)

CORONAVIRUS: President Joe Biden's team is increasingly worried the coronavirus pandemic is spiraling out of control -- imperiling his promise to contain the outbreak -- as cases and deaths mount, vaccinations lag and a more-transmissible strain emerges in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter. (BBG)

CORONAVIRUS: The United States needs to quickly ramp up the amount and pace of Covid-19 testing and vaccinations to bring the current outbreak under control, Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in her first official statement as President Joe Biden's director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (CNBC)

CORONAVIRUS: New York state is averaging 65,000 vaccinations a day as it works to ensure the shots are fairly distributed, Governor Andrew Cuomo said. The federal government plans to send about 250,000 shots to New York next week, well below the 329,849 shots allocated last week, Cuomo said Wednesday at a press briefing. He has been urging the U.S. to increase supply, and said his attempt to purchase the vaccine directly from Pfizer Inc. isn't allowed under federal emergency-use guidelines. (BBG)

CORONAVIRUS: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) blamed Walgreens and the federal government for the Garden State's sluggish vaccine rollout during a Wednesday evening interview on CNBC's "The News with Shepard Smith." "The big reason is the federal program with CVS and Walgreens," Murphy said. "They basically amassed these doses, they schedule visits to long-term care nursing homes, extended living, and they're punching under their weight, particularly Walgreens, and that's where most of the yet to be used doses are." (CNBC)

CORONAVIRUS: McKesson Corp. is replacing some shipments of Moderna Inc.'s Covid-19 vaccine after they got too cold in transit, underlining the logistical hurdles that face the U.S. vaccination campaign as states confront surging demand for the shots. The company, which is handling distribution of the Moderna vaccine for the U.S. government, said in a statement that some shipments it sent Sunday had fallen below their recommended temperature range. McKesson said gel packs used in shipping the shots had become too cold. (BBG)

CORONAVIRUS: Amazon on Wednesday offered to help with national efforts involving the Covid-19 vaccine, according to a letter sent to President Joe Biden, which was obtained by CNBC. (CNBC)

POLITICS: US President Joe Biden has begun to undo some of Donald Trump's key policies, hours after being sworn in. "There is no time to waste when it comes to tackling the crises we face," he tweeted as he headed to the White House following his inauguration. President Biden signed 15 executive orders, firstly to boost the federal response to the coronavirus crisis. Other orders reverse the Trump administration's stance on climate change and immigration. (BBC)

OTHER

U.S./CHINA: China's three biggest telecommunications firms said they requested a review of the New York Stock Exchange's decision to delist their shares more than a week ago, a move triggered by an executive order issued by former U.S. President Donald Trump. The drama surrounding the delisting, which played out over a few days with the bourse at one point reversing the decision before enforcing it again, caused wild swings in the companies' stock as investors were left with little time to react to the various moves. It also prompted some global equity indexes to remove the securities. (BBG)

U.S./CHINA: China has imposed sanctions on 28 U.S. individuals including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over "crazy actions that have gravely interfered in China's internal affairs", its foreign ministry said in the early hours of Thursday, Beijing time. "These individuals and their immediate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland of China, Hong Kong and Macao. They and companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China," the ministry said in a statement. (RTRS)

U.S./CHINA: The future China-U.S. relationship should be more equal and may include both reciprocity and reciprocal sanctions, the CCP owned Global Times reported citing Li Haidong, a professor from China Foreign Affairs University. China has set the tone for future relations after imposing sanctions on 28 anti-China former U.S. officials including Michael Pompeo, and urged future American politicians to respect China's core values when making and applying policies toward China, said Li. China will not allow these politicians and their associates to rake in benefits from Chinese markets if they enter the private sector, the newspaper reported citing Shen Yi, a professor from Fudan University. (MNI)

U.S./CHINA: Twitter Inc. has locked the official account for the Chinese Embassy to the U.S. after a post that defended the Beijing government's policies in the western region of Xinjiang, where critics say China is engaged in the forced sterilization of minority Uighur women. The tweet, which said Uighur women were no longer "baby-making machines," was originally shared on Jan. 7, but wasn't removed by Twitter until more than 24 hours later. It has been replaced by a label saying, "This tweet is no longer available." Even though Twitter hides tweets that violate its rules, it still requires the account owner to manually delete the post in order to regain access to the account. (BBG)

U.S./CHINA: Outgoing U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Ajit Pai said potential Chinese espionage and threats to U.S. telecommunications networks and internet freedom are the biggest national security issue that regulators will face in the next four years. (RTRS)

U.S./CHINA/TAIWAN: Taiwan and U.S. will deepen ties on industry supply chain collaboration, as Biden administration places greater emphasis on working in an alliance than the Trump government, Taipei-based Economic Daily News reports, citing an interview with Taiwan's economic minister Wang Mei-hua. (BBG)

EU/CHINA: EU President von der Leyen says 'China is a systemic rival'. (BBG)

CORONAVIRUS: Global deaths topped 17,500 on January 20, according to Johns Hopkins data, the highest daily total of the Covid-19 pandemic to date, the latest example of how the pandemic continues to rage around the world even as vaccines begin to be deployed. The previous high was on Jan. 8 at 17,454. (BBG)

CORONAVIRUS: Oxford scientists are preparing to rapidly produce new versions of their vaccine to combat emerging Covid-19 variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil. (Telegraph)

CORONAVIRUS: Vaccines being rolled out in the UK and around the world may be less effective against the new South Africa variant, a new study has found. The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, also found the South Africa variant, known as 501Y.V2, contains mutations that may be resistant to immunity from previous coronavirus infection. Lawrence Young, a virologist and professor of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School, who was not involved in the research, said: "This preprint suggests that individuals might be able to get infected with a variant of Sars-Cov-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) even if they have previously had COVID-19. (Sky News)

HONG KONG: Hong Kong is poised to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine before the end of the week as a Kwai Chung warehouse has been selected to store the vials, overcoming a key logistical concern in the scheme to administer the first million doses. Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee is set to approve use of the German firm's vaccine, developed with American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer for the global market except China, paving the way for the first round of 1 million inoculations after Lunar New Year, with high-risk groups such as the elderly and health care workers given priority. (SCMP)

BOJ: MNI STATE OF PLAY: BOJ On Hold; Keeps Forward Guidance

• The Bank of Japan board decided to leave monetary policy settings unchanged at its meeting on Thursday as the economy continues to improve despite the spread of the coronavirus. The BOJ also left the forward guidance for the policy rates unchanged, indicating that the policymakers are vigilant against the impact of any prolonged pandemic impact on the economy and financial markets. "For the time being, the BOJ will closely monitor the impact of Covid-19 and will not hesitate take additional easing measures if necessary, and also it expects short- and long-term interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels," the BOJ statement said - on MNI Main Wire and email now - for more details please contact sales@marketnews.com.

BOJ: Japan's government nominated Senshu University economics professor Asahi Noguchi to become one of the Bank of Japan's nine board members, according to a document released by parliament. Noguchi was chosen as a candidate to replace Makoto Sakurai, a core member of the board who has never dissented from a decision by Governor Haruhiko Kuroda. (BBG)

NEW ZEALAND: Statistics New Zealand reports experimental weekly series based on payday filing to the Inland Revenue, on website. Paid job numbers fall 11,350 in week ended Dec. 13 to 2,285,030 following a 26,980 gain the previous week. Numbers rise 69,840 since final week of September. (BBG)

NEW ZEALAND: The latest BNZ/SEEK employment report noted that "job advertising maintained its creditable recovery into the end of 2020. Its seasonally adjusted gain of 3.0% for December brought the level of ads to about where they were at the end of 2019. This gave a sense of near full recovery from the depths of March/April 2020, when COVID-19 lockdowns were in the extreme. As for the previous peak in job ads, however, this occurred in the first half of 2019. This is a reminder that job advertising was already tailing off a bit over the latter half of 2019, well before COVID-19 came into view." (MNI)

SOUTH KOREA: South Korea will receive Pfizer vaccines for coronavirus for 50,000 people early next month as part of the deal with Covax Facility, JoongAng Ilbo newspaper says, citing an unidentified government official. South Korea has secured vaccines through Covax for 10m people. (BBG)

CANADA: U.S. President Joe Biden's first telephone conversion with a foreign leader will be with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and it will happen on Friday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Wednesday. In her first briefing, Psaki said the two leaders will discuss bilateral issues as well as Biden's decision to formally revoke the permit needed to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline. (RTRS)

CANADA: Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to revoke the permit for Calgary-based TC Energy's Keystone XL pipeline was a "gut punch," characterizing it as a direct attack on the trade relationship between the two countries. "Sadly, this is an insult directed at the United States's most important ally and trading partner," Kenney said during a press conference held Wednesday. Kenney said he was calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sit down with the new administration, suggesting that the federal government impose trade and economic sanctions should those efforts be refused. (CBC)

MEXICO: Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Wednesday said lawmakers should ensure a bill aimed at helping repatriate unwanted dollars does not affect the central bank's autonomy, sharpening his message on the contentious legislation. The bill, pitched by the president's National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), proposed making the Bank of Mexico (Banxico) buy up foreign cash that banks cannot offload. (RTRS)

BRAZIL: Brazilian right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday wrote to newly inaugurated U.S. President Joe Biden that he hoped the two countries would pursue a broad free trade agreement during Biden's tenure. The letter is Bolsonaro's most amicable overture yet to Biden, a Democrat. The Brazilian president was a close ally of former Republican President Donald Trump and refused for weeks to accept the result of the Nov. 3 U.S. election, repeating baseless allegations of fraud. It took him 42 days to recognize Biden's victory. (RTRS)

BRAZIL: Brazil's central bank kept its benchmark Selic interest rate unchanged as the inflation outlook deteriorates while the country struggles with the economic impact of Covid-19. The bank as expected Wednesday left the Selic at a record low of 2% for the fourth straight meeting. The bank removed its previous forward guidance, saying some of the conditions set to maintain no longer hold, in a sign policy makers want to have flexibility to raise rates if necessary in coming months. (WSJ)

SOUTH AFRICA: To secure 1.5 million doses of the Serum Institute of India's Covishield shot, which is being produced under license from AstraZeneca, South Africa will pay more than twice the price the European Union secured last year, Business Day reports, citing the country's health department. The South African government agreed to pay $5.25 a dose, according to the Johannesburg-based newspaper. (BBG)

FOREX: President Biden is expected to nominate Michael Barr, a former Treasury Department official, to a top post overseeing national banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo & Co., according to people familiar with the decision. Mr. Barr, the likely pick to serve as Comptroller of the Currency, helped craft the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul during the Obama administration as the Treasury's assistant secretary for financial institutions from 2009 to 2010. (Dow Jones)

CHINA

CORONAVIRUS: China's latest Covid-19 outbreak continued to swell with the total number of domestic infections reported this year surpassing 1,300. Two domestic cases reported in Beijing's Daxing district are due to a virus variant found in the U.K., and not related to any domestic or imported cases so far detected from China, local authorities said. To curb the spread in China's most politically significant city, the district has imposed a lockdown of some 1.7 million residents effective Wednesday. In the country's northeastern provinces, numbers surged even faster triggering lockdowns in some cities. Heilongjiang province reported 68 cases on Thursday, and Jilin reported 33. As lockdowns spread in the country ahead of the Chinese New Year travel rush, some 1.7 billion trips are set to take place during the travel period, transport official said. That would be over 40% less than the same period two years ago. JPMorgan has cut its oil demand estimates for China, citing risks "are clearly to the downside". (BBG)

PBOC: The PBOC may keep the loan prime rate (LPR) unchanged to help solidify reductions in corporate loan rates, the Financial News reported. China's corporate loan rates are likely to be kept low due to low inflation risks and stable macro policies, the newspaper reported citing Wang Qing, an analyst with Golden Credit Rating. The PBOC seems content with the current interest rate levels while leaving the January MLF rate unchanged, while abundant credit and demand should support recovery, the newspaper reported citing Zhou Maohua, an analyst from China Everbright Bank. (MNI)

FISCAL: China should keep its deficit at a relatively high level in 2021 and the scale of local government special bonds at around CNY3.75 trillion to buttress against lingering uncertainties, the Economic Information Daily reported citing Yang Zhiyong, a deputy director of the National Academy of Economic Strategy under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Provincial governments should have clear plans on using the bond proceeds, the newspaper said citing Yang. (MNI)

REITS: National Development and Reform Commission will collect first batch of infrastructure projects as reserves before March 5 for real estate investment trusts trial, according to a statement on the commission's website. NDRC will also cooperate with CSRC, stock exchanges to help prepare for the trial. (BBG)

DEFAULTS: Tsinghua Unigroup sees uncertainty in coupon payment for a 5.11% 600m yuan local bond due Jan. 25 because of tight liquidity, according to a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange. (BBG)

OVERNIGHT DATA

CHINA DEC SWIFT GLOBAL PAYMENTS CNY 1.88%; NOV 2.00%

JAPAN DEC TRADE BALANCE +Y751.0BN; MEDIAN +Y930.5BN; NOV +Y366.1BN
JAPAN DEC TRADE BALANCE ADJ +Y477.1BN; MEDIAN +Y719.2BN; NOV +Y549.5BN
JAPAN DEC EXPORTS +2.0% Y/Y; MEDIAN +2.4%; NOV -4.2%
JAPAN DEC IMPORTS -11.6% Y/Y; MEDIAN -13.9%; NOV -11.1%

JAPAN DEC SUPERMARKET SALES +2.7% Y/Y; NOV +1.2%

AUSTRALIA DEC UNEMPLOYMENT 6.6%; MEDIAN 6.7%; NOV 6.8%
AUSTRALIA DEC EMPLOYMENT CHANGE +50.0K; MEDIAN +50.0K; NOV +90.0K
AUSTRALIA DEC FULL-TIME EMPLOYMENT CHANGE +35.7K; NOV +84.2K
AUSTRALIA DEC PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT CHANGE +14.3K; NOV +5.8K
AUSTRALIA DEC PARTICIPATION RATE 66.2%; MEDIAN 66.2%; NOV 61.1%

AUSTRALIA JAN CONSUMER INFLATION EXPECTATION +3.4%; DEC +3.5%

AUSTRALIA DEC RBA FX TRANSACTIONS MARKET +A$1.254BN; NOV +A$1.394BN
AUSTRALIA DEC RBA FX TRANSACTIONS GOV'T -A$1.283BN; NOV -A$1.436BN
AUSTRALIA DEC RBA FX TRANSACTIONS OTHER +A$1.534BN; NOV +A$1MN

NEW ZEALAND NOV NET MIGRATION +672; OCT +892

NEW ZEALAND DEC NON-RESIDENT BOND HOLDINGS 49.9%; NOV 49.7%

SOUTH KOREA JAN 1-20 EXPORTS +10.6% Y/Y; DEC +1.2%
SOUTH KOREA JAN 1-20 IMPORTS +1.5% Y/Y; DEC -8.0%

SOUTH KOREA DEC PPI +0.1% Y/Y; NOV -0.3%

CHINA MARKETS

PBOC NET INJECTS CNY248BN VIA OMOS THURSDAY

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) injected CNY250 billion via 7-day reverse repos with the rate unchanged on Thursday. This resulted in a net injection of CNY248 billion given the maturity of CNY2 billion reverse repos today, according to Wind Information.

• The operation aims to offset the impact of the tax season and maintain the liquidity in the banking system at a reasonable and ample level, the PBOC said on its website.
• The 7-day weighted average interbank repo rate for depository institutions (DR007) decreased to 2.2383% at 09:28 am local time from 2.5528% at Wednesday's close.
• The CFETS-NEX money-market sentiment index closed at 66 on Wednesday vs 67 on Tuesday. A lower index indicates decreased market expectations for tighter liquidity.

PBOC SETS YUAN CENTRAL PARITY AT 6.4696 THU VS. 6.4836

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the dollar-yuan central parity rate lower at 6.4696 on Thursday. This compares with the 6.4836 set on Wednesday.

MARKETS