Yuan weakens

13 Apr, 2016

China's yuan weakened on Tuesday as dollar demand from banks' corporate clients offset a stronger central bank midpoint, traders said. "Corporate dollar demand has been on the rise since the start of this year as more Chinese companies conduct M&A activities overseas," said a trader at a European bank in Shanghai. "Such demand has periodically pushed the yuan to trade in divergence with the midpoint, although the yuan's temporary weakness driven by such demand does not represent a trend," he said.
Prior to the market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate at 6.4616 per dollar, 0.05 percent firmer than the previous fix of 6.4649. Still, the spot yuan opened at 6.4636 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.4676 at midday, 0.15 percent weaker than the previous close. The Chinese currency eased 0.2 percent against the euro at 7.3758 by midday. It strengthened 0.2 percent against the Japanese yen at 5.9791 to 100 yen. The offshore yuan also weakened slightly, and was trading at 6.4755 per dollar by midday, 0.12 percent weaker than the onshore spot.

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