China's yuan steady, eyes on additional stimulus, Fed meeting minutes
SHANGHAI, Oct 9 (Reuters) -China's yuan held steady against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, as investors awaited more stimulus from the world's second-largest economy and the Federal Reserve's September meeting minutes due later in the day to gauge its policy path.
The dollar .DXY held steady, giving some relief to the yuan after a sharp rally to a seven-week high last week.
Spot yuan CNY=CFXS opened at 7.0650 per dollar and was last trading 12 pips lower than the previous late session close at 7.066.
Prior to the market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC, around which the yuan is allowed to trade in a 2% band, at 7.0568 per dollar, only 3 pips weaker than a Reuters' estimate.
China's blue-chip CSI300 .CSI300 index dropped for the first time since Sept. 13, poised to snapping a 10-day winning streak, after officials on Tuesday failed to offer much new on stimulus plans to revive the economy.
The yuan is down 0.7% against the dollar so far this month, due to broad dollar strength, but the currency has 0.5% firmed for the year-to-date.
China equities' recent rally has raised the bar for an upside surprise from expected fiscal stimulus news, said UBS strategists led by Rohit Arora, adding that the offshore yuan's near-term risk reward is unattractive.
"Historically, fizzling of China equities' spurts acted as a bigger drag on CNH vis-à-vis the tailwinds from equities' surge," the strategists said.
Nevertheless, market participants are still awaiting additional stimulus measures that could help further lift China asset sentiment.
Citi FX traders think the offshore yuan could trade well if local equities remain supported, similar to what happened in Nov. 2022 - Jan. 2023, according to the bank's note to clients.
The offshore yuan traded at 7.0682 yuan per dollar CNH=, up about 0.09% in Asian trade.
The dollar's six-currency index =USD was 0.039% higher at 102.53.
LEVELS AT 02:44 GMT
INSTRUMENT | CURRENT vs USD | UP/DOWN(-) VS. PREVIOUS CLOSE % | % CHANGE YR-TO-DATE | DAY'S HIGH | DAY'S LOW |
Spot yuan <CNY=CFXS | 7.066 | -0.07 | 0.51 | 7.063 | 7.0697 |
Offshore yuan spot CNH=D3 | 7.071 | 0.09 | 0.81 | 7.064 | 7.0741 |
Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill
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