Yuan slips from 3-week peak, tariffs dampen mood
SINGAPORE, Aug 27 (Reuters) -China's yuan eased on Tuesday as a five-week winning streak on the dollar started to lose steam and traders bet on the currency settling into a new range until the economy improves.
Late in the Asia morning it traded at 7.1277 per dollar CNY=CFXS, weaker than Monday's three-week top of 7.1135. In offshore trade CNH=D3 the yuan was at 7.1271.
Industrial profit growth accelerated a little bit in July, official data showed on Tuesday, though figures out earlier in August had shown slowing exports.
Canada vowing a 100% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles and 25% on steel and aluminium did not help sentiment either, especially since exports are propping up an otherwise slowing Chinese economy.
The yuan is up 1.3% against the dollar this month, mostly thanks to the dollar's slide in anticipation of U.S. rate cuts.FRX/
UOB analysts said it would telling if the dollar fell through offshore yuan chart support at 7.0835 and 7.0636 and in the near term expect range trading between 7.1150 and 7.1350.
Because the dollar has fallen broadly, the currencies of many of China's trading partners have rallied and the yuan's trade-weighted value has dropped.
The official trade-weighted index .CFSCNYI has given up its gains for the year and was at 97.89 when it was last published, on Friday. Against the euro EURCNY=R the yuan was at 7.9558, near the bottom of a range it has kept for a year.
"A falling trade-weighted CNY is ... consistent with the PBOC's monetary easing stance," said RBC Capital Markets' strategist Alvin Tan.
Prior to the market opening, the People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC, around which the yuan is allowed to trade in a 2% band, at 7.1249 per dollar, four pips weaker than a Reuters' estimate.
Chinese government 10-year bond yields CN10YT=RR rose 0.2 basis points to 2.17%. The yield on similar U.S. government benchmark debt was 3.8%. The dollar's six-currency index =USD was last 100.88, down 3% through August.
Key onshore vs offshore levels:
Overnight dollar/yuan swap onshore -7.80 pips vs. offshore -7.80
Three-month SHIBOR SHIBOR= 1.8 % vs. 3-month CNH HIBOR 2 %
LEVELS AT 03:43 GMT GMT
INSTRUMENT | CURRENT vs USD | UP/DOWN(-) VS. PREVIOUS CLOSE % | % CHANGE YR-TO-DATE | DAY'S HIGH | DAY'S LOW |
Spot yuan <CNY=CFXS | 7.1251 | -0.03 | -0.33 | 7.1247 | 7.1288 |
Offshore yuan spot CNH=D3 | 7.1259 | -0.05 | -0.01 | 7.1223 | 7.1306 |
---------------------------------------------------
Reporting by Tom Westbrook.
Editing by Shri Navaratnam
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
