PBOC hikes open market rate

Higher price for seven-day reverse repos to help offset Fed move

China's central bank raised its open market interest rate for the second time in less than four months on Thursday, in response to the US Federal Reserve's rate hike, in line with the monetary policy target supporting financial deleveraging and preventing risks.

The People's Bank of China announced on its website that it would undertake open market operations - raising the seven-day reverse repurchase interest rate at auction by 5 basis points, from 2.50 percent to 2.55 percent, a few hours after the Fed's rate hike. The benchmark interest rate has remained unchanged since October 2015.