AGL 38.54 Increased By ▲ 0.97 (2.58%)
AIRLINK 129.50 Decreased By ▼ -3.00 (-2.26%)
BOP 5.61 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.53%)
CNERGY 3.86 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (2.39%)
DCL 8.73 Decreased By ▼ -0.14 (-1.58%)
DFML 41.76 Increased By ▲ 0.76 (1.85%)
DGKC 88.30 Decreased By ▼ -1.86 (-2.06%)
FCCL 35.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.23%)
FFBL 67.35 Increased By ▲ 0.85 (1.28%)
FFL 10.61 Increased By ▲ 0.46 (4.53%)
HUBC 108.76 Increased By ▲ 2.36 (2.22%)
HUMNL 14.66 Increased By ▲ 1.26 (9.4%)
KEL 4.75 Decreased By ▼ -0.11 (-2.26%)
KOSM 6.95 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (1.46%)
MLCF 41.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.15 (-0.36%)
NBP 59.60 Increased By ▲ 1.02 (1.74%)
OGDC 183.00 Increased By ▲ 1.75 (0.97%)
PAEL 26.25 Increased By ▲ 0.55 (2.14%)
PIBTL 5.97 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (2.4%)
PPL 146.70 Decreased By ▼ -1.70 (-1.15%)
PRL 23.61 Increased By ▲ 0.39 (1.68%)
PTC 16.56 Increased By ▲ 1.32 (8.66%)
SEARL 68.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.49 (-0.71%)
TELE 7.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.14%)
TOMCL 35.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.05 (-0.14%)
TPLP 7.85 Increased By ▲ 0.45 (6.08%)
TREET 14.20 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.28%)
TRG 50.45 Decreased By ▼ -0.40 (-0.79%)
UNITY 26.75 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (1.33%)
WTL 1.21 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
BR100 9,806 Increased By 37.8 (0.39%)
BR30 29,678 Increased By 278.1 (0.95%)
KSE100 92,304 Increased By 366.3 (0.4%)
KSE30 28,840 Increased By 96.6 (0.34%)

SHANGHAI: China’s yuan slightly weakened against the dollar on Friday as it neared the end of a volatile week in which the Chinese central bank attempted to slow the pace of the currency’s fall against a buoyant dollar.

Traders awaiting fresh US inflation data later in the day expect further downward pressure on the yuan, as well as rising volatility.

The onshore spot yuan was changing hands at around 7.2270 per dollar at midday, slightly weaker than the previous late session close.

Reflecting central bank efforts to stabilise the currency, the People’s Bank of China set the midpoint rate almost flat before market open. At 7.095 per dollar, the fixing is more than 1,300 pips stronger than Reuters estimates.

Guosheng Securities attributed the yuan’s recent weakness mainly to dollar’s strength. The dollar index has rebounded sharply since mid-March and is up 3.2% so far this year.

“In the short term, the yuan still faces downward pressure” as the central government “follows the trend”, Guosheng analysts Xiong Yuan and Liu Xinyu said in a note.

Yuan depreciation will negatively impact China’s stock, bond and commodities markets, the brokerage said.

But the analysts think a big drop in the yuan is unlikely given limited room for dollar strength, and the fact that “China’s central bank will continue to exert certain control in the forex market.”

Signifying authorities’ hand, the onshore yuan trades more than 300 pips stronger than the offshore yuan, whose value is decided more by market forces.

Traders are waiting for the release of the personal consumption expenditures price index in the US later on Friday.

The Federal Reserve’s preferred gauge of inflation may have picked up pace in February, according to economists polled by Reuters, potentially giving another boost to the dollar.

Comments

Comments are closed.