-- China kept its loan prime rate or LPR, which is the benchmark for new loans, unchanged after posting a better-than-expected economy amid the Middle East conflict.
The People's Bank of China held the one-year LPR at 3% and the LPR of five years or more at 3.5% according to a Monday press release from the central bank.
Analysts from ING expected no changes to the LPR, which was kept steady for the 11th consecutive month, following the country's first-quarter economy, which remained within the year's target range of 4.5% and 5%.
The move came after China's gross domestic product posted a 5% growth in the first quarter, according to last week's data from the National Bureau of Statistics.