Yuan bears take a US$562m beating from currency's resilience

Hong Kong

THE battle over the fate of China's currency is starting to get bloody for the bears.

Seven months after a shock devaluation spurred hedge funds and other speculators to wager on further declines, the yuan's unexpected resilience has turned many of those bets into losers. At least US$562 million of options that pay out if the currency drops below 6.6 per US dollar - its weakest point since the devaluation - have expired worthless since August. Another US$807 million will lapse within three months.