China's yuan slips, on track for worst week in more than a year

09 Aug, 2019

Most other Asian currencies barely moved ahead of what for some markets will be a long weekend.

The yuan was headed for a loss against the U.S. dollar of about 1.6% for the week, following Monday's drama when it crossed the key 7 per dollar level for the first time since the global financial crisis.

The yuan on Friday was trading 0.1% lower at 7.05 a dollar.

The escalating U.S.-China trade war drove much of the volatility across the region this week.

"Emerging market currencies have sold off pretty much across the board, reflecting an increase in risk aversion," Capital Economics said in a note.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump upped the ante after a period of relative calm by announcing he plans to impose more tariffs on Chinese imports from Sept 1.

The Philippine peso lost 0.1% against the greenback to 51.95 the day after the country's central bank joined a host of other monetary authorities by easing policy in the face of slowing global growth.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas cut rates by 25 basis points, as expected, on Thursday and kept the door open for further easing after economic growth, announced on the same day, slipped to its weakest in 17 quarters.

Earlier in the week, there were unexpected actions from India's central bank, which cut more than predicted, and the Bank of Thailand, which made its first rate cut since 2015.

On Friday, the rupee strengthened 0.3% to 70.515 a dollar. A Reuters poll published on Friday said economists see interest rates being cut for a fifth straight Reserve Bank of India meeting in October.

Copyright Reuters, 2019

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