(Bloomberg) -- Terms of Trade is a daily newsletter that untangles a world embroiled in trade wars. Sign up here.
The yuan was poised to snap a ten-day losing streak after approaching a record run of declines in earlier fluctuating trade.
The currency was set to avoid an 11th straight drop against the dollar, which would have been its longest-ever losing run according to China Foreign Exchange Trade System data that goes back to 2007. The central bank set its daily reference rate at a stronger-than-expected level for a seventh straight day -- a sign that the People’s Bank of China is growing uncomfortable with the yuan’s recent descent.
The currency slipped as much as 0.09% on Thursday before strengthening 0.21% to 7.1495 a dollar as of 4:45 p.m. in Shanghai. The gain came after China indicated it wouldn’t immediately retaliate against the latest U.S. tariff increase announced by President Donald Trump last week, saying it was more important to discuss removing the extra duties.
An escalation in the trade war between China and the U.S. has helped make the yuan the worst-performing currency in Asia since May. It has plummeted by 3.7% in August, set for its biggest monthly drop since January 1994, when the modern exchange-rate regime was adopted. A slowdown in China’s economy has also dented investor confidence.
(Updates with market moves.)
To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Livia Yap in Shanghai at lyap14@bloomberg.net;Ran Li in Beijing at rli279@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sofia Horta e Costa at shortaecosta@bloomberg.net, David Watkins, Philip Glamann
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
