The yuan strengthened against the dollar on Wednesday, buoyed mainly by bullish market sentiment after China reported that exports rose for the first time in nine months in March. "There was a bout of heavy dollar selling right after the trade data came out," said a trader at a Chinese commercial bank in Shanghai. "The market now eyes Q1 GDP data that is due on Friday for more signs of a recovery in the economy."
China's trade performance blew past expectations in March, with exports have their strongest annual growth since February 2015, providing more evidence of stabilisation in the world's second-largest economy. Prior to Wednesday's market opening - and as the dollar struggled to rebound from a 7-1/2 month trough against a basket of major currencies - the People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.4591 per dollar. That was the second firmest setting this year, and 0.04 percent stronger than the previous fix of 6.4616.
The spot market opened at 6.4620 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.4643 at midday, 0.04 percent firmer than the previous close. The economic data to be released Friday is expected to show China's growth continued to slow in the first quarter. A Reuters poll expects annual growth of 6.7 percent. The International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday that China's slowdown might not be quite as severe as first feared but its "momentous" shift from investment-led growth is still having a chilling effect on trade globally. The offshore yuan was trading 0.12 percent softer than the onshore spot at 6.4718 per dollar.
Offshore one-year non-deliverable forwards contracts, considered the best available proxy for forward-looking market expectations of the yuan's value, traded at 6.643, or 2.77 percent weaker than the midpoint.