The dollar hovered near a one-month low versus the yen and a one-week low against the dollar after data showed U.S. private sector jobs growth slumped to a 3-1/2-year low in August.
Gold edged up slightly on dollar weakness while oil prices were set for deep weekly losses on persistent concerns about soft demand and signs of amply supply.
China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 0.81 percent to 2,765.81 after Zou Lan, head of China central bank’s monetary policy department, said there is room to lower reserve requirement rations but interest rate cuts are limited by constraints.
Amid growing calls for policy easing to spur economic growth, a central bank official said the bank has room to cut the reserve requirement ratio.
Zou Lan, head of the People’s Bank of China’s monetary policy department, said the average RRR for financial institutions is around 7 percent. “So there is some room” to lower the ratio, said Zou. The RRR represents the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves.
This year the central bank had reduced its short-term policy rates as well as benchmark lending rates to strengthen counter-cyclical adjustments to better support the real economy.
Zou said there are certain constraints on cutting deposit and lending rates further.
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First Published: Sep 06 2024 | 3:49 PM IST
