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☆ Exclusive: China's state banks seen swapping and selling dollars for yuan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Chinese Yuan and U.S. dollar banknotes are seen in this illustration taken March 10, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSHANGHAI, Nov 21 (Reuters) - China's major state-owned banks were seen exchanging yuan for U.S. dollars in the onshore swap market and selling those dollars in spot currency markets this week, two sources told Reuters on Tuesday. Some market participants said state banks might be trying to speed the yuan's gains and spur exporters to convert more of their FX receipts into yuan. The selling of dollars by state banks caused the onshore spot yuan to briefly touch 7.1296 per dollar, firmer than its daily official guidance for the first time in four months. To me, it looks like they are doing preparatory work ahead of a policy rate cut," said Kiyong Seong, lead Asia macro strategist at Societe Generale.

Persons: Yuan, Dado Ruvic, Kiyong Seong, Zhi Xiaojia, Zhi, Simon Cameron, Moore, Clarence Fernandez Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Federal, People's Bank of China, Societe Generale, Credit Agricole, Shanghai, Thomson Locations: Asia, China, United States

This week it hit a six-month low on the dollar after surprise cuts to key China rates, putting the gap between 10-year sovereign yields in China and the U.S. at its widest since November. The position, with China's rates below those in the United States , is the reverse of more than a decade of high-growth that saw China paying better yields than markets in the west. "The People's Bank of China's tolerance of currency weakness ... also opens up room for further yuan weakness." Even if the Federal Reserve holds rates steady later on Wednesday, as expected, traders are braced for an extended period of elevated U.S. interest rates and, increasingly, for China to hold rates low or push them even lower. Analysts polled by Reuters expect the PBOC will cut the costs of medium-term loans on Thursday and many market watchers expect a benchmark lending rate cut next week.

Persons: hasn't, Morgan, J.P, Tommy Xie, Kiyong Seong, Winni Zhou, Brenda Goh, Tom Westbrook, Kim Coghill Organizations: Bond, People's Bank, People's Bank of China, Federal Reserve, Reuters, Authorities, OCBC Bank, Societe Generale, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, SINGAPORE, China, U.S, Beijing, United States, Asia, Shanghai, Singapore

As doubts grow about the strength of its economic recovery, foreign money has left China's markets and the currency has fallen 4% against the dollar since late January. Analysts at Nomura and Societe Generale say the yuan could soon head for 7.3, which as last plumbed in November. Reflecting that, the trade-weighted CFETS basket against which the People's Bank of China (PBOC) manages the currency, has dropped to 99 from 100 in February. THE CHEAP CURRENCYBecky Liu, head of China macro strategy at Standard Chartered Bank, expects the yuan will continue to depreciate. "The interest rate gap remains wide, so many hedge funds continue to use yuan as a funding currency," Liu said.

[1/3] A man wearing a protective mask is seen inside the Shanghai Stock Exchange building, as the country is hit by a new coronavirus outbreak, at the Pudong financial district in Shanghai, China, February 28, 2020. REUTERS/Aly Song/File PhotoNEW YORK/SINGAPORE, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Many large money managers are steering clear of Chinese assets, missing out on the nation's post-COVID stock market rally in the latest example of strategic concerns trumping juicy returns. "For our investors who might have that concern, there are plenty of other opportunities away from China." The concern flagged by some is whether this is part of a structural downgrade for Chinese assets, said Will Malcolm, a Singapore-based portfolio manager at Aviva Investors. That could attract cash in a hurry, but the behaviour of large investors so far suggests that a large sentiment shift will be needed.

☆ Asia stocks see bright side after Nvidia sounds upbeat
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Shares in the giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (2330.TW) rose 2.2% to lift Taiwan's benchmark (.TWII) 1.3%. A 4% gain for SK Hynix (000660.KS) and a 2% gain for Samsung (005930.KS) drove South Korea's Kospi (.KS11) 1% higher. The Bank of Korea also offered some relief by ending a year-long run of uninterrupted rate hikes with a pause - as expected. Wall Street indexes fell overnight and are eyeing their worst week of the year so far as stronger-than-forecast U.S. labour, inflation, retail sales and manufacturing figures have traders pricing interest rates staying higher for longer. "Markets have been forced to reprice interest rate expectations, not just higher, but also questioning the view that once peak rates are hit, central banks will pivot quickly to cutting interest rates," said ANZ economist Finn Robinson.

☆ China's yuan hits 5-week low as South Korea export data darkens outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Chinese yuan has weakened sharply against the U.S. dollar in the last several weeks as the greenback strengthens and investors worry about China's economic growth. China's yuan sank to its weakest in five weeks during early trading on Monday, as data from South Korea compounded concerns about Asia's export growth and investors stayed cautious ahead of key U.S. inflation data. "As one of China's trading partners, South Korea's disappointing export data reinforced the overall deterioration in Asia's export orders," said Kiyong Seong, lead Asia macro strategist at Societe Generale. "Such concern has weighed on the yuan, alongside other Asian currencies such as Korean won ." The spot yuan opened at 6.8349 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.8293 at midday, 135 pips weaker than the previous late session close and 0.21% away from the midpoint.

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