The People's Bank of China released its financial market performance report for July 2026 on August 24. At the end of the month, the Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3832.3 points, representing a 6.4% decline month-on-month, while the Shenzhen Component Index settled at 13578.9 points, down 16.2% compared to the previous month.

During July 2026, the daily average turnover across the two major stock exchanges amounted to 26.86 trillion yuan, marking a 13.8% decrease from the preceding month. In the interbank lending market, the daily average transaction volume reached 323.29 billion yuan, reflecting a 24.3% reduction year-on-year. Meanwhile, the daily average bond repurchase volume in the interbank market stood at 6.5 trillion yuan, down 14.2% from the same period last year.

As of the end of July 2026, outstanding interbank lending balances totaled 1.0 trillion yuan, and outstanding bond repurchase balances in the interbank market reached 9.8 trillion yuan.

Money Market Performance

In July 2026, the weighted average rate for overnight collateralized repos among depository institutions (DR001) registered 1.39%, rising by 1 basis point from June. The DR007 rate averaged 1.43%, falling 2 basis points month-on-month, while the broader overnight pledged repo rate (R001) held steady at 1.42%. The average daily spread between DR001 and the central bank's 7-day reverse repurchase rate was -1 basis point, whereas the gap between R001 and DR001 averaged 3 basis points.

Bond Market Performance

Government bond net financing reached 1.31764 trillion yuan in July 2026, an increase of 69.46 billion yuan year-on-year. Corporate bond net financing totaled 453.59 billion yuan, rising by 178.75 billion yuan compared to the same month last year. By the end of July, bond market custody balances had reached 207.4 trillion yuan. The cash bond market saw 41.4 trillion yuan in transactions, down 0.6% year-on-year, while the turnover rate for interbank cash bonds fell to 19.2%, a decline of 2.8 percentage points from the prior month. The bid-ask spread on actively traded 10-year government bonds narrowed to 0.15 basis points.

At the end of July, the 10-year government bond yield stood at 1.71%, and the yield spread between 10-year and 1-year government bonds narrowed to 57 basis points, contracting by 4 basis points month-on-month. Meanwhile, the spread between 3-year AAA-rated medium-term notes and 3-year government bond yields widened to 40 basis points, an increase of 7 basis points from June. During the first seven months of 2026, panda bond issuance accumulated to 195.73 billion yuan, with 26 additional overseas institutions entering the interbank bond market.

Derivatives Market Performance

The RMB derivatives market in the interbank space recorded 6.7 trillion yuan in transactions during July, up 5.0% year-on-year. The closing average of the 1-year FR007 interest rate swap settled at 1.44% at month-end, rising 2 basis points from June. The government bond futures market saw 8.3 trillion yuan in turnover, down 2.5% from a year earlier. Open interest in treasury bond futures reached 995,000 contracts by the end of July, a substantial 43.9% increase year-on-year, while the main 10-year contract closed at 109.4 yuan, up 0.6% from the prior month.

Bill Market Performance

In July 2026, commercial bill acceptance volume totaled 3.9 trillion yuan, with discounting volume reaching 3.2 trillion yuan. By month-end, outstanding commercial bill acceptances stood at 22.1 trillion yuan, up 11.1% year-on-year, while outstanding discounted bills reached 17.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 13.0%.

Gold Market Performance

At the end of July 2026, the Au (T+D) contract on the Shanghai Gold Exchange closed at 884.6 yuan per gram, gaining 0.7% month-on-month. Gold trading volume on the exchange totaled 6,942.7 tons in July, a 30.8% surge year-on-year, whereas gold turnover on the Shanghai Futures Exchange reached 13,000 tons, down 6.5% from the previous year.

Foreign Exchange Market Performance

At the end of July 2026, the onshore RMB exchange rate against the US dollar closed at 6.7476, appreciating 0.56% from the end of June. The CFETS RMB Index stood at 102.19, depreciating 0.39% over the same period.

Stock Market Performance

At the end of July 2026, the Shanghai Composite Index closed at 3832.3 points, down 6.4% month-on-month, while the Shenzhen Component Index ended at 13578.9 points, reflecting a 16.2% decline. The daily average combined turnover of both exchanges totaled 26.86 trillion yuan in July, down 13.8% from June.

Holder Structure in the Interbank Bond Market

By the end of July 2026, the interbank bond market comprised 3,760 institutional members, all classified as financial institutions. In terms of bond holdings, the top 50 investors held 54.2% of corporate credit bonds, primarily concentrated among major state-owned commercial banks (proprietary trading), public funds (asset management), and trust companies (asset management). The top 200 investors accounted for 85.4% of total holdings. Looking at trading activity, the top 50 investors contributed 62.1% of corporate credit bond transactions, with securities companies (proprietary), joint-stock commercial banks (proprietary), and fund companies (asset management) leading the activity. The top 200 investors represented 92.2% of total transaction volume.