IN BRIEF (Page 6)

Central bank eases cash strain

China's central bank made a net cash injection via open market operations for the third consecutive day on Friday in an effort to ease a temporary cash strain. The People's Bank of China conducted 120 billion yuan ($18 billion) of reverse repos, a process by which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding with an agreement to sell them back in the future. The injection saw a net 20 billion yuan pumped into the market on Friday, offset by 100 billion yuan in maturing reverse repos. This came after a net injection of 50 billion yuan on Thursday and 180 billion yuan on Wednesday.

Macao visitor spending up