Gold Prices Fall Amid Rate Jitters; Copper Steady as China Stimulus Eyed 
The Chinese sovereign bonds continued to rally on Friday as investors expect that the world’s second-largest economy is likely to witness a sluggish growth owing to weak exports and mounting debt, which boosted demand for safe-haven assets.
Also, China’s finance ministry auctions 30-year bonds at 3.4258 percent yield, against market expectations of 3.32 percent, at the lowest cost since 2008.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year note which moves inversely to its price dipped more than 1 basis point to 2.801 percent, the yield on long-term 30-year bond fell 4-1/2 basis points to 3.385 percent and the yield on short-term 2-year note slid more than 2 basis points to 2.428 percent by 05:00 GMT.
The Reuters in its latest report mentioned that the Chinese Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to shrink to 6.5 percent in 2016, driven by weak exports and massive industrial overcapacity are raising the stakes for policymakers keen on ensuring job growth while avoiding more serious fallout from China's mounting debt.
Moreover, the S&P in its latest report concluded that that the Chinese economy to expand 6.6 percent in 2016 and 6.3 percent in 2017, as compared to recent 6.7 percent in June.
Interestingly, the China's external debt stood at 13 percent of GDP in 2015; this is the second lowest external debt to GDP ratio in the world, according to Moody’s report.
In addition, the median forecast in a Reuters survey of 60 economists taken in the past week is for 6.5 percent growth in 2016 - the weakest in a quarter of a century - with a further slowing to 6.3 percent in 2017 as a housing recovery that supported growth earlier this year loses momentum.
Looking ahead, we foresee that any further drop in economic growth below 6.5 percent could steer monetary easing from the People's Bank of China (PBOC). The central bank is expected to go for 25 basis points cut in 2016.
Meanwhile, China sets the USD/CNY reference rate at 6.6669, 0.3 percent stronger than 6.6872, yesterday. The Shanghai Composite (SSEC) fell 0.69 percent to 3,018.10.
