Chinese yuan near one-month low after Fed signals quicker end to stimulus

SHANGHAI: China's yuan hovered near its one-month low against the dollar on Thursday, as the Federal Reserve's new policy projection of a quicker end to pandemic-era stimulus underpinned the greenback in global markets.

The dollar index rose to a one-month high after the Fed said it would likely begin reducing its monthly bond purchases as soon as November and signalled interest rate increases may follow more quickly than expected.

"It seems the gradual pace of normalisation may not be as gradual as anticipated and that FoMC tilts more hawkish next year," analysts at Maybank said in a note.

Prior to market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate at 6.4749 per dollar, 56 pips weaker than the previous fix of 6.4693.

In the spot market, onshore yuan opened at 6.4717 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.4655 around midday, 21 pips weaker than the previous late session close.

Traders said markets would pay close attention to the pace of Fed tapering, which could affect the performance of the dollar and other major currencies.

A trader at a foreign bank said the yuan failed to test its lows early on Thursday as investors took some profit on the dollar gains.

The downside for the yuan was also limited after the PBOC injected 90 billion yuan ($13.92 billion) into the banking system on Wednesday and an Evergrande unit said it had "resolved" a coupon payment on an onshore bond, providing markets with some relief.

Evergrande still faces $83.5 million in dollar-bond interest payments due on Thursday on a $2 billion offshore bond.

"The positive momentum was triggered by some better news on the Evergrande front, with liquidity added into the system and affirmations that the CNY bond payment would take place as scheduled," ANZ said in a note.

"With the repayment of the USD coupon due today still an open question, risk remains in the system, but the market seems to be coming to terms with it."

Cash-strapped developer China Evergrande Group said it held an internal meeting late on Wednesday, in which its chairman urged company executives to ensure the quality delivery of properties and redemption of wealth management products.

After Wednesday's liquidity move, the PBOC injected a further net 110 billion yuan through reverse repo operations into the banking system on Thursday to boost liquidity at quarter-end and ahead of the National Day holiday.

The week-long public holiday starts on Oct. 1.

By midday, the global dollar index stood at 93.348, while the offshore yuan was trading at 6.4665 per dollar.