Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Markets Opens Lower, HK Markets to Run as UsualChina's two bourses, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges, opened lower Wednesday morning in the wake of the disasters in the United States overnight.The Shanghai Composite Index opened at 1822.10 points this morning, down 41.68 points or two percent from the last close of 1,863.78 points. The Shenzhen Component Index opened at 3,711.70 points, down 49.39 points or 1.3 percent from the last close. HK Markets to Run as UsualThe Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced Wednesday that the HK dollar and US dollar RTGS systems and other clearing and payment systems in Hong Kong will be open for business as usual.It is understood that, notwithstanding the devastating events in the USA overnight, the principal US payment and settlement systems continued to function and concluded the day's business in the normal manner, said HKMA. It can be expected that normal business will continue through those systems on the current business day. It is not therefore envisaged that there will be any problems with clearing and settlement in Hong Kong, in either HKD or USD. Nevertheless, the HKMA will monitor the situation closely, with a view to ensuring adequate liquidity and smooth functioning of the systems. The usual facilities for banks to obtain liquidity through intraday repos and overnight access to the discount window are of course available. If any authorized institution encounters an exceptional problem the HKMA stands ready to discuss it, according to the announcement. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |