China Stocks end lower

The China shares finished session deeply in the red on Monday, 21 September 2020, as investors reacted to the central bank decision to left its benchmark lending rate unchanged and escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing. Worries about the global economic recovery and a surge in novel coronavirus cases across Europe also weighed on markets.

At closing bell, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.63%, or 21.15 points, to 3,316.94. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, declined 0.52%, or 11.61 points, to 2,208.30. The blue-chip CSI300 index eased 0.96%, or 45.66 points, to 4,691.43.

China kept its benchmark lending rate for corporate and household loans, the loan prime rate (LPR), steady for a fifth straight month, as expected. The monthly fixing came after the People's Bank of China kept medium-term borrowing costs unchanged, and after President Xi Jinping said China's economy remains resilient.

CURRENCY NEWS: China's yuan appreciation against greenback on Monday, after the central bank set a firmer-than-expected guidance. Prior to the market's opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC at 6.7595 per dollar, 4 pips weaker than Friday's fix of 6.7591, but still came in higher than market expectations. In the spot market, onshore yuan CNY=CFXS opened at 6.7620 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.7575 at midday, 125 pips firmer than the previous late session close.

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