Hong Kong — Chinese stocks slumped on Friday, sending Asian markets down for their biggest losses in two weeks after Beijing unexpectedly raised short-term interest rates, adding to the growing concern about US President’s Donald Trump’s aggressive policies. On the first day of trading after a week-long break for the Lunar New Year, Chinese equities skidded and the currency weakened after the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) raised the interest rates on open market operations by 10 basis points. Two banking sources also told Reuters it had raised the lending rates on its standing lending facility (SLF) short-term loans, suggesting policy makers were tugging multiple levers to slow down a rampant build-up in debt among Chinese companies. "My interpretation of the higher interest rates in China is that the regulator does not want corporates to over-leverage, which could be the case if borrowing cost is low together with ample liquidity," said Iris Pang, senior economist, greater China at...
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