PBOC Skipped OMO on Monday; Drained Net CNY180 Bln

     BEIJING (MNI) - The People's Bank of China skipped its open-market

operations on Monday, the central bank announced. 

     This resulted in a net drain of CNY180 billion for the day, as a total of

CNY180 billion in reverse repos mature on Monday. 

     The PBOC said in a statement that interbank market liquidity remains at a

"relatively high level" that will offset the impact of expiring reverse repos. 

     The PBOC drained a net CNY360 billion via its open market operations the

week before the week-long National Day holiday. 

     A total of CNY320 billion in reverse repo and CNY84 billion in Medium-term

Lending Facility instruments will mature this week.

     The CFETS-ICAP money-market sentiment index ended at 77 on Saturday, Sept.

30 -- the last trading day before the holiday and the end of both the month and

the quarter -- up sharply from 47 at Friday, Sep. 29's close. The lower the

reading the better the liquidity conditions in the interbank market.

     The benchmark seven-day repo average was last at 2.6500%, compared with

3.1622% on Sept.30.

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

--MNI BEIJING Bureau; +1 202-371-2121; email: john.carter@mni-news.com

[TOPICS: MMQPB$,M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,MN$MM$]