PBOC researcher blames Fed for stocks rout

SHANGHAI - A researcher with China's central bank on Tuesday blamed wide expectation of a Fed rate rise in September for the global market rout.

Yao Yudong, head of the People's Bank of China's Research Institute of Finance, said the expected Fed rate hike next month had been the "trigger" for the wild market swings.

Analysts worried that the Fed rate hike could accelerate the plunge of US stocks and trigger a sell-off of assets worldwide and even a new global credit crisis.

Yao said the Fed should remain patient before the US inflation reaches 2 percent.

Earlier, analysts said the devaluation of Chinese currency the renminbi triggered the plunge and the weakening of bulk commodities and currencies in other countries.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index sank 7.63 percent to close at 2,964.97 points on Tuesday. It has lost 26 percent in the past six trading days.

Overnight, the Dow tumbled 588 points, or 3.58 percent, to 15,871, after sliding more than 1,000 points, or 6 percent at the opening.

Li Qilin, analyst with Minsheng Securities, said the small devaluation of renminbi could have slightly weighed on stock markets, but it could not explain the huge sell-off in the United States and other countries.

Li said the liquidity crunch is a bigger culprit.

The global rout has little to do with economic fundamentals and the Asian financial crisis would not be repeated, Capital Economics said in a research note.

But it said if the market plunge continues worldwide, the Fed might postpone its rate hike.