Yuan leads rally in Asian currencies on China's economic bounce

2023-10-18 03:10

By Tom Westbrook SINGAPORE Asian currencies caught a boost from better-than-expected Chinese economic data on Wednesday, driving the

Yuan leads rally in Asian currencies on China's economic bounce

By Tom Westbrook

SINGAPORE Asian currencies caught a boost from better-than-expected Chinese economic data on Wednesday, driving the yuan to a one-week high and putting a dampener on the U.S. dollar which has rallied for weeks on end as U.S. yields have climbed.

A blast at a Gaza hospital also kept moves modest and traders on edge at the prospect of a widening conflict. U.S. President Joe Biden is due to visit Israel on Wednesday. The shekel was pinned to the weaker side of 4-per dollar.

Official data showed China's economy grew 1.3% in the third quarter, accelerating from 0.5% in the previous quarter and topping market forecasts for an increase of 1%. Industrial output rose and unemployment fell.

"It pretty much means the growth target for this year of around 5% will be achieved, maybe slightly above," said UOB economist Woei Chen Ho in Singapore.

The yuan and trade-dependent Australian and New Zealand dollars all bounced. The Aussie was last up 0.2% at $0.6378. The kiwi rose by the same margin to $0.5909. The yuan hit a one-week high of 7.2905 per dollar.

On Tuesday U.S. yields had shot sharply higher after data showed retail sales increased strongly, which had helped the dollar pile pressure on the low-yielding Japanese yen.

The yen was last at 149.68 to the dollar and was squeezed, as the Bank of Japan had unexpectedly announced $2 billion in bond-buying to keep downward pressure on yields.

Elsewhere the greenback had struggled to gain, which some analysts suggested could point to a loss of momentum.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield has climbed about 100 basis points since mid July, and the dollar index is up 7% in the same period.

"It's had a really good run and it's stalled a bit," said Westpac analyst Imre Speizer. "Maybe it's hitting the limits of this stage of the rally, and needs a bit of a correction."

The euro gained 0.1% overnight and was steady at $1.0574 in Asia. Sterling held at $1.2170.

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Currency bid prices at 0244 GMT

Description RIC Last U.S. Close Pct Change YTD Pct High Bid Low Bid

Previous Change

Session

Euro/Dollar

$1.0574 $1.0576 -0.02% +0.00% +1.0579 +1.0561

Dollar/Yen

149.6900 149.7900 -0.07% +0.00% +149.7900 +149.6900

Euro/Yen

158.27 158.44 -0.11% +0.00% +158.4500 +158.1500