China's weak post-COVID economic recovery continued to weigh on sentiment, and Chinese and Hong Kong stocks fell.
Investors are focusing on the rate at which the People's Bank of China will roll over a batch of 200 billion yuan worth of medium-term policy loans, which are due to mature on Thursday. A cut, which is possible given China's post-pandemic recovery has begun to sputter, would increase the gap between U.S. and Chinese rates and could weigh on the yuan., as concerns about lower fuel demand from China and rising Russian crude supply weighed on the market.
Brent crude futures fell 2.2%, to $73.16 a barrel and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $68.41, down 2.5%.Thomson Reuters Reports on the intersection of finance and technology, including cryptocurrencies, NFTs, virtual worlds and the money driving "Web3".