SHANGHAI: China's yuan slipped on Thursday after exports declined for a second consecutive month in March, but some economists partly blamed intense yuan speculation last year for artificially inflating trade figures then and distorting comparisons now.
Spot yuan shed 0.1 percent by midday to change hands at 6.2059 per dollar after the central bank guided the midpoint slightly weaker to 6.1510. The market has remained consistently weaker than the midpoint since mid-March.
The dollar hit a three-week low against a basket of currencies on Thursday, after minutes from the Federal Reserve's meeting in March were seen as dovish by markets and likely to push back the Fed's end of asset purchases and rate increases.
Chinese trade data also reinforced views the recovery in the world's second-largest economy had hit a soft patch.
First-quarter exports fell 3.4 percent from a year earlier, while imports were up 1.6 percent, producing a trade surplus of $16.7 billion, down 59.7 percent from a year ago. Economists polled by Reuters expect first-quarter GDP figures due on April 16 to show annual growth slowing to a five-year low of 7.3 percent from 7.7 percent in the final quarter of 2013.
However, Premier Li Keqiang ruled out major stimulus to fight short-term dips in growth, dashing investor hopes that the government would aggressively combat a slowdown in activity.
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