- Stronger yuan boosts risk appetite
- U.S. labels China a currency manipulator
(New throughout, updates trading and comments to U.S. market open, new byline, changes dateline, previous LONDON)
The Chinese yuan strengthened and demand for safe haven currencies like the Japanese yen and Swiss franc fell on Tuesday as China appeared to take steps to stabilize its currency, after the yuan on Monday breached a key level and sparked broad risk aversion.
Stocks and emerging market currencies plunged on Monday and safe havens jumped after Chinese authorities allowed the yuan to break through the psychologically important level of 7 per dollar, its lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis.
Risk appetite improved on Tuesday after the People's Bank of China fixed the daily reference rate for the onshore Chinese yuan at 6.9683, firmer than the expected 6.9871, and below the key 7 rate.
The central bank also said it was selling yuan-denominated bills in Hong Kong, a move seen as curtailing short selling of the currency.
“The signs that China’s not willing to let the cny continue drifting above 7 is somewhat constructive from a cross asset perspective,” said Bipan Rai, North American head of FX strategy at CIBC Capital Markets in Toronto.
Onshore yuan CNY= stayed above 7 but gained 0.38% percent to 7.0189 per dollar, after weakening as far as 7.0575 overnight.
The offshore yuan CNH= also gained 0.70% to 7.0482, down from a high of 7.1397.
Escalating tensions between the United States and China are likely to keep investors cautious with no end in sight to the Sino-U.S. trade war.
The U.S. Treasury Department announced late on Monday that it had determined for the first time since 1994 that China was manipulating its currency and said that Washington would engage the International Monetary Fund to clamp down on Beijing.
China's central bank responded on Tuesday that China "has not used and will not use the exchange rate as a tool to deal with trade disputes.”
It added that Washington's decision to label Beijing as a currency manipulator would "severely damage international financial order and cause chaos in financial markets."
“The fact that the Treasury has labeled China as a currency manipulator, especially since this is an out of cycle move by the U.S. Treasury, suggests that things are pretty antagonistic between the U.S. and China and volatility should continue to remain elevated into the near term," Rai said.
Chinese monetary authorities let the yuan slide past the 7 level so that markets could finally factor in concerns around the Sino-U.S. trade war and weakening economic growth, three people with knowledge of the discussions said on Monday.
======================================================== Currency bid prices at 9:30AM (1330 GMT)Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid Previous Change Session Euro/Dollar EUR= $1.1173 $1.1202 -0.26% -2.58% +1.1249 +1.1172 Dollar/Yen JPY= 106.5100 105.9400 +0.54% -3.40% +107.0700 +105.5300 Euro/Yen EURJPY= 119.04 118.68 +0.30% -5.69% +119.8500 +118.3800 Dollar/Swiss CHF= 0.9778 0.9733 +0.46% -0.37% +0.9782 +0.9704 Sterling/Dollar GBP= 1.2166 1.2141 +0.21% -4.63% +1.2209 +1.2135 Dollar/Canadian CAD= 1.3226 1.3213 +0.10% -3.01% +1.3236 +1.3187 Australian/Doll AUD= 0.6786 0.6756 +0.44% -3.73% +0.6801 +0.6751 arEuro/Swiss EURCHF= 1.0927 1.0903 +0.22% -2.91% +1.0931 +1.0898 Euro/Sterling EURGBP= 0.9183 0.9223 -0.43% +2.22% +0.9249 +0.9172 NZ NZD= 0.6534 0.6526 +0.12% -2.72% +0.6585 +0.6510 Dollar/DollarDollar/Norway NOK= 8.8997 8.9270 -0.31% +3.02% +8.9299 +8.8915 Euro/Norway EURNOK= 9.9456 10.0008 -0.55% +0.40% +10.0212 +9.9424 Dollar/Sweden SEK= 9.5922 9.6018 -0.37% +7.01% +9.6095 +9.5698 Euro/Sweden EURSEK= 10.7198 10.7598 -0.37% +4.44% +10.7683 +10.7180
