Earlier in the day China announced it is dropping its reserve requirement ratio for banks by 0.5%.

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The announcement came after China indicated it would loosen monetary policy by lowering the reserve requirement ratio for banks.

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In addition, the People's Bank of China cut its reserve requirement ratio for large banks for the first time since December 2008, following a modest easing for small rural banks last month.

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The ECB also moved to ease liquidity for European banks by lowering the reserve ratio to 1% from 2%.

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