Chinese yuan jumps two-month high on trade progress

BEIJING: Chinese Yuan soars to a two-month high against the dollar, sources said on Monday. The signs of progress are boosted in Sino-US trade negotiations and the hopes to end the long trade war are also raised.

The president of US, Donald Trump devised the deal’s first part to put an end on the trade war with China along with suspending the threatened tariff hike as well. The officials of both countries state that more work needed to maintain this step.

Ken Cheung, chief Asian FX strategist at Mizuho Bank, Hong Kong said that both countries have managed to agree on one trade deal decreasing the stress of investors regarding the risks of full-blown war.

Opened at 7.0827 per dollar, the onshore sports market reached 7.0494 in the morning trade which was strongest since August 2019. The rate was changing during midday at 7.0515, 373 pips which was also stronger than the previous session. According to traders, the gains in the yuan depends mostly on the developments in the trade related negotiations during the next term.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump will be attending the summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) next month, in Chile. US President hinted that there is a chance of signing a written agreement in this regard.

A Chinese bank trader expects the trade of yuan ranges from 7.0 to 7.1 per dollar before the summit in Chile.

Investors are also concerned over whether the central bank would reconsider official yuan midpoint fixing because the two largest economies of the world have also slightly hinted on the currency.

The partial deal pinpoints agriculture, currency along with intellectual property protections. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has decided the midpoint rate at $7.0725 which is almost two pips stronger than 7.0727 – last fix.

Today’s fixing is similar to the previous month’s situation that continued to set around $7.0370 and remained slightly firmer as compared to the projections of the market.

Stephen Innes, Asia Pacific market strategist at AxiTrader stated that the guidance rate did not send the clear signals that PBOC will work on the stronger Yuan Policy. He further said, monitoring this week’s and beyond reference, rates are required before making any conclusions.

According to Mizuho’s Cheung, the PBOC aims to maintain yuan’s stability until the next month’s APEC summit before the official currency signing pact.