China lowers yuan mid-point less than expected to 6.8246 per US dollar

[SHANGHAI] China's central bank on Friday weakened its official yuan midpoint less than expected to 6.8246 per US dollar, after the greenback gained on a report that US President Donald Trump planned to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods.

Bloomberg News reported on Thursday that Mr Trump is prepared to quickly ramp up a trade war with China and has told aides he is ready to impose tariffs on US$200 billion more in Chinese imports as soon as a public comment period on the plan ends next week.

Friday's official yuan midpoint was 133 pips, or 0.19 per cent, weaker than the previous fix of 6.8113. Friday's fixing, the weakest since Monday, was also the biggest one-day weakening in percentage terms since Aug 24.

But the guidance rate was 80 pips firmer than Reuters' estimate of 6.8326 per US dollar.

China's central bank said last Friday that it was adjusting its methodology for fixing the yuan's daily midpoint in order to keep the currency market stable.

REUTERS