CNY Continues Downward Trend

March 20, 2014 Share Print 0

China’s yuan has tumbled to its lowest level in a year, just days after the country’s central bank doubled its trading range against the dollar.
The Chinese currency weakened 0.5% Thursday to 6.23 yuan per dollar. So far this year, the yuan has fallen 2.6% against the dollar, a trend analysts think could continue for several months.

For years, investors had viewed the continued strengthening of the Chinese currency as a very safe bet. Indeed, it’s gained about 9% since the middle of 2010.
But the days of steady, constrained appreciation are now over.
The yuan has been allowed to move within a wider band this week, following a decision by China’s central bank to double the trading range for the yuan to 2% in either direction of a rate set daily by the government. The new policy lets the yuan, also called the renminbi, move up and down in value more than it had before.
Experts have applauded the central bank’s move as a necessary step for the government to achieve financial reforms.
The Chinese government has historically maintained a tight grip on the yuan. Doing so has allowed Beijing to curb money flows in and out of the country, and favorable exchange rates have helped to boost exports and manufacturing.
Some investors were caught off guard by the bank’s decision to introduce depreciation and allow more volatility.

via CNN

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Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse

Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.