Shares fall after banks' RRR not cut by PBOC

Shanghai stocks fell slightly yesterday after investors were dejected that there would be no cut by the central bank to banks' reserve requirement ratio, while profit taking of financial shares also hit the market.

The Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.11 percent to 3,057.52 points. The index had climbed to a four-year high on the previous day.

On Wednesday, the People's Bank of China used its medium-term lending facility — its latest liquidity management tool — after it initially injected 500 billion yuan (US$80.4 billion) into commercial banks in September at an interest rate of 3.5 percent with a three-month maturity.

The tool provides liquidity to banks using treasury bonds, central bank bills, policy bank bonds and high-quality corporate bonds as collateral. It aims to boost the real economy by cutting lending rates and costs for enterprises in fundraising.

Huatai Securities said the PBOC is using the tool to avoid a general cut in RRR for banks that was expected by investors.

The Bank of Nanjing lost 5.11 percent to 14.31 yuan, China CITIC Bank fell 3.49 percent to 6.92 yuan, and Soochow Securities shed 9.59 percent to 20.28 yuan. Everbright Securities shed 9.03 percent to 25.89 yuan.