Sean Callow, an analyst at Westpac, notes that after all the headlines on U.S.-China trade and Hong Kong, CNY and CNH are almost dead flat over the week.
- “7.20 to the dollar seems to be the new strong resistance, with USD/CNH falling about 40-50 pips short on Monday and Tuesday (<0.01%) and USD/CNY rolling over ahead of 7.19.
- Of course, the Asian currency rally mid-week on the HK government’s formal withdrawal of the extradition bill and confirmation of the resumption of US-China trade talks helped USD/China pull back. But even before then and despite US tariffs proceeding on Sunday on previously exempt imported Chinese goods, the daily USD/CNY fixings were firmly on the low side, much further below the spot close than we have seen for most of this year.
- So the yuan is not being weaponized – in fact the opposite seems to be occurring. Whether this costs the PBoC much in FX reserves remains to be seen – the guidance may largely suffice to limit capital outflows.”