The dollar slipped against most rivals Monday, with Chinese currency rising to its best level against the greenback since Beijing’s surprise devaluation of the yuan in August.
The ICE U.S. dollar index DXY, -0.14% a measure of the buck’s strength against a basket of six currencies, recently traded down 0.1% at 94.70, while the dollar USDCNY, -0.3436% was at 6.3207 yuan, down about 0.4%.
Authorities in China fixed trading of the Chinese yuan more strongly against the U.S. dollar for the seventh straight day. Its guidance brought the onshore yuan to its strongest level against the U.S. dollar since Beijing devalued the yuan. The dollar hit as low as 6.3196 yuan Monday, according to FactSet data.
Meanwhile, stocks in China and Hong Kong rallied Monday on fresh stimulus measures from Beijing.
The yuan’s advance on Monday comes after a spectacular prior week for emerging-markets currencies. The dollar has risen significantly against most of its emerging-market rivals in 2015 as investors brace for an interest-rate increase by the Federal Reserve, which would make the buck more attractive by increasing the return on deposits and dollar-denominated assets. But a Fed hike this year is looking more uncertain, and that has boosted the greenback’s rivals.
In other currencies trading on Monday, the euro EURUSD, +0.2025% was up 0.1% to $1.1373, while the dollar USDJPY, -0.07% fell 0.1% against Japan’s currency to 120.18 yen.
Source: MarketWatch
