HONG KONG: China’s yuan skidded to a seven-month low against the dollar on Wednesday on weak economic data and as the central bank nudged the currency’s trading range a little bit lower.

At 0410 GMT, the yuan was down about 0.03% at 7.2733 and had traded as low as 7.2736, the weaker end of its daily trading band.

The yuan is down 2.4% on the US dollar this year as China’s economic recovery has disappointed and rock-bottom bond yields have driven money away and into higher yielding currencies.

The Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) released on Wednesday fell to 51.2 from 54.0 in May, marking the lowest reading since October 2023.

Despite a small fall for the dollar overnight, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) fixed the midpoint rate, around which the yuan is allowed to trade in a 2% band, at 7.1312 per dollar, its weakest since Nov. 21, 2023.