China Stocks end mixed

The Mainland China share market finished session mixed on Thursday, 20 May 2021, as the country's central bank kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged, with gains in shares in financial firms and pharmaceutical & biotechnology services sectors helped to offset losses in resources companies after Beijing vowed to stabilize commodities prices.

At closing bell, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was down 0.11%, or 4.02 points, to 3,506.94. The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks stocks on China's second exchange, added 0.12%, or 2.90 points, to 2,330.36. The blue-chip CSI300 index climbed up 0.27%, or 14.14 points, to 5,186.41.

Top performing sectors in the Shanghai Stock Exchange were Restaurants (up 10%), Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Services (up 4.1%), Soft Drinks (up 4.1%), Health Care Technology (up 4%), and Yellow Wine (2.8%), while worst performing sectors were Internet Retail(down 5.2%), Marine(down 4.6%), Copper (down 4.5%), Glass (4.4%), and Rare Metals (down 4.1%).

Top performing sectors in the Shenzhen Stock Exchange were Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Services (up 6.3%), Household Appliances (up 2.9%), Mobile Internet Information Service (up 2.2%), Health Care Technology (up 2%), and Diversified Capital Markets (up 1.9%), while worst performing sectors were Glass (down 6.2%), Specialized Finance (down 5.3%), Coal (down 4.6%), Aluminum (down 4.5%), and Industrial Conglomerates (down 4.1%).

ECONOMIC NEWS: China's benchmark lending rate was kept unchanged in May, with the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) sitting at 3.85%. The five-year LPR was also held steady at 4.65%.

CURRENCY NEWS: China yuan softened against the dollar on Wednesday, inline with softer mid-point fixing by central bank after minutes from the last Federal Reserve policy meeting hinted at the possible tapering of asset sales if the U.S. economic recovery continues apace. Prior to market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) fixed the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC at 6.4464 per dollar, 0.32% weaker than the previous fix of 6.4255. In the spot market, the onshore market CNY=CFXS was changing hands at 6.4382, softer by 0.07% than the previous late session close.

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