Yuan edges up in NDFs, political risks re-emerge

June 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment

SHANGHAI, June 24 (Reuters) – Dollar/yuan offshore forwards edged lower on Thursday, implying slightly higher yuan appreciation that dealers said was now settling at reasonable levels after the weekend’s official depegging from the dollar, although political risks resurfaced.

Political concerns intensified overnight when several U.S. lawmakers renewed calls for legislation to press China on yuan appreciation, casting uncertainty over how willing the People’s Bank of China will be to allow the yuan to move in the short term and making even a slight yuan rise implied in NDFs appear potentially risky.

Spot yuan CNY=CFXS drifted lower against the dollar as some banks and their clients now have too few dollars on hand, after the PBOC’s weekend announcement it would depeg the yuan from the the U.S. currency spurred them to aggressively sell dollars on Monday, to bet on yuan appreciation.

Trading was sluggish on Thursday, after China’s state-owned banks bought dollars heavily on behalf of the PBOC in the spot market on Tuesday and continued sporadic buying on Wednesday, dealers said, effectively helping the Chinese central bank to take back control of the yuan’s value by draining dollar supply.

“After a flood of dollars into the (spot) market, those who sold them too cheaply early in the week must buy them back at higher prices if they need them,” said a dealer at a major Chinese commercial bank in Shanghai.

“The market has had to learn that the central bank is still in firm control of the yuan’s value. With speculation dying down, real demand is pushing the dollar slightly higher.”

The yuan was quoted at 6.8134 to the dollar at midday, slightly weaker than Wednesday’s close of 6.8124 and Thursday’s central bank mid-point of 6.8100, which was little changed from Wednesday’s mid-point of 6.8102.

The yuan moved in a 57-pip range on Thursday, shrinking from the daily ranges of 300 pips or more early in the week but still much wider than the moves of only a few pips per day seen during most of the two-year dollar peg. <^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Full coverage [ID:nCHINATAKE] PDF on yuan: r.reuters.com/fuk43m Yuan microsite: china.thomsonreuters.com/yuan/ Yuan graphics: r.reuters.com/byq23m Insider TV

-- Yuan to rise before G20 link.reuters.com/jes92m

-- Yuan shows confidence link.reuters.com/hyc33m

-- Some see delay tactic link.reuters.com/xad33m ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

POLITICAL RISKS

U.S. senators said on Wednesday they were unmoved by China’s steps to partially free the yuan since the weekend and vowed to push forward legislation to punish a yuan misalignment they say distorts trade and steals U.S. jobs. [ID:nN23216546]

China announced over the weekend that it would allow the yuan’s exchange rate to move more freely but it has made it clear that its currency reform would be gradual and controllable.

It is widely believed in the domestic market that China will not concede any more from its present stance and fresh pressures from U.S. lawmakers are very likely to backfire.

“Market and economic conditions have changed so much since the global financial crisis that it is unrealistic to think China still has firm plans to allow the yuan to appreciate to a certain degree in a certain period of time,” said a senior trader at a major European bank in Shanghai.

“The best China can do is to show that it is friendly, it is cooperative and it is willing to change in line with market and economic conditions.”

The latest euro zone debt crisis has cast doubt on the pace of China’s economic recovery, giving a warning to Beijing once again how vulnerable the world’s third-largest economy is to a global slowdown.

Chinese economists often argue that Western critics underestimate that vulnerability, especially given how far China’s per capita income lags developed countries.

They say it may be inappropriate to apply Western standards to the currency of a country whose per capita GDP is only one-20th that of the United States.

Caution about Beijing’s stance was reflected in the offshore forwards markets, where speculators were wary about shorting dollars and suspected that Beijing’s currency moves after the weekend were aimed primarily at appeasing critics before the G20 summit late this week.

Benchmark one-year dollar/yuan NDFs CNY1YNDFOR= eased to 6.6670 bid by midday from Wednesday’s close of 6.6700, with implied yuan appreciation over that period rising to 2.14 percent from 2.10 percent the previous day.

Three-month NDFs’ implied yuan appreciation rose to 0.62 percent from Wednesday’s 0.56 percent, as measured from the central bank’s spot mid-point. (Editing by Edmund Klamann)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yuan slips after state bank selling blocks advance

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

SHANGHAI, June 22 (Reuters) – The Chinese yuan slipped on Tuesday as big state-owned banks heavily bought dollars, a move that suggests the central bank has adopted a new strategy to control the pace of yuan gains.

The yuan jumped initially after the People’s Bank of China set the mid-point start to trade at a surprisingly strong 6.7980 CNY=SAEC, little changed from Monday’s close and catching market players off guard who had thought it would try to nudge the currency lower after the previous day’s surge.

The heavy dollar buying quickly drove the yuan well off a low of 6.7900 — the lowest since the 2005 revaluation — and up as high as 6.8229 on the day, a drop of 0.37 percent. The yuan last traded at 6.8189 CNY=CFXS.

On Monday, the currency posted its biggest one-day rise since the revaluation, rising nearly half a percent and almost touching the upper it of its daily trading band on either side of the mid-point.

Some traders believe the buying by state-owned banks was on behalf of the PBOC to avoid direct market intervention, as it had often done in the post-revaluation appreciation phase and de facto dollar peg of the past two years.

By letting state-owned banks buy dollars, the PBOC is effectively limiting the market’s ability to short dollar/yuan — especially because banks are not allowed to hold short positions overnight in the spot currency market.

“It appears a new strategy,” said a senior dealer at a European bank in Shanghai. “The central bank needn’t intervene in the market, but it can still keep the pace of yuan appreciation under control via a control of supply and demand.”

Because the state-owned banks were scooping up dollars at a wide variety of levels, it suggested that they were not trying to defend the yuan at a certain level, traders said.

But since the peg to the dollar was ditched over the weekend, the PBOC appears to be trying to foster much more two-way trade within the daily trading band, seeking to get banks and companies used greater volatility and hedging currency risks.

During the 2005-2008 managed float against a trade-weighted currency basket and subsequent peg to the dollar, the PBOC often squashed intraday volatility via direct intervention, guidance through the mid-point and dollar purchases by state-owned banks.

Now it appears to be backing away from direct intervention unless the extremes of the daily trading band are tested.

The PBOC has made clear that it would not allow the yuan to appreciate sharply in its statements over the weekend announcing the latest reforms of the yuan, ruling out a one-off revaluation. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Full coverage [ID:nCHINATAKE] PDF on yuan: r.reuters.com/pys23m Yuan microsite: china.thomsonreuters.com/yuan/ Yuan graphics: r.reuters.com/byq23m Insider TV

-- Yuan to rise before G20 link.reuters.com/jes92m

-- Yuan shows confidence link.reuters.com/hyc33m

-- Some see delay tactic link.reuters.com/xad33m ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

BASKET

Despite the announced intention of controlling the pace of yuan appreciation against the dollar, the PBOC showed it was backing its words with deeds by allowing the yuan to rise against European currencies on Tuesday.

The PBOC set the yuan’s mid-point higher against the euro EURCNY=SAEC, at 8.3816, and against sterling GBPCNY=SAEC after the currencies weakened overnight. That set the tone for the yuan to trade higher against the euro EURCNY=CFXS at 8.3764 at midday on Tuesday from a close of 8.4325 the previous day.

The yuan can rise up to 3 percent against currencies besides the dollar.

“The question is how far the yuan can go,” said a senior dealer at a North American bank in Shanghai. “We believe the central bank must have some limits, which may gradually become clear over time after the G20 summit.”

Offshore dollar/yuan forwards rose back up after initial falls that had implied more yuan appreciation, buoyed by the dollar/yuan mid-point setting.

Some players in the NDF market have turned cautious about shorting dollar/yuan, worried that this week’s yuan move was done primarily to appease critics before the G20 summit late this week, and later moves may be more subdued.

Three-month dollar-yuan non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) CNY3MNDFOR= were quoted at 6.7380, implying a yuan rise of 0.89 percent after they fell to a low of 6.7080 in early trade.

One-year NDFs CNY1YNDFOR= rose back to 6.6300 after hitting an initial low of 6.5970, trimming implied appreciation to 2.53 percent from 3.05 percent the previous day. (Editing by Eric Burroughs & Jan Dahinten)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FOREX-Euro, Aussie pare post-yuan fixing gains

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

TOKYO, June 22 (Reuters) – The euro slipped on Tuesday, returning gains as China’s yuan retreated against the dollar after an early surge, prompting short-term speculators to cut back on their initial buying of risky currencies including the Australian dollar.

The euro and the Australian dollar hit their highs for the day after China’s central bank set the yuan’s daily mid-point at 6.7980 against the dollar, stronger than Monday’s 6.8275 per dollar and the highest since the yuan’s revaluation in 2005.

Traders initially took this as a sign China could allow the yuan to rise further. But the climb in the euro and the Australian dollar was short-lived as spot yuan CNY=CFXS slumped back versus the dollar after rising to a fresh post-revaluation high of 6.7900 in early trade.

“The euro and the Aussie slipped simply because the yuan eased, with some players suspecting Chinese authorities might be intervening to rein in the yuan’s rise,” said a senior FX trader at a big Japanese brokerage.

The market took the yuan 0.42 percent higher on Monday, its biggest one-day rise since the 2005 revaluation. But dealers fear the central bank will not let the market keep boosting the yuan at the pace seen that day.

Chinese state-owned banks are aggressively buying dollars and selling the yuan, traders said, but it was not clear if the buying was due to Chinese central bank intervention to keep the yuan stable. [ID:nBJD003806]

The euro EUR= dipped 0.1 percent to $1.2307, off the day’s peak of $1.2355. It hit a one-month high of $1.2490 on trading platform EBS on Monday after China pledged to allow the yuan to rise, boosting confidence in the global economy.

Near-term support was seen at $1.2253, a 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of the rise from a four-year low of $1.1875 on June 7 to Monday’s high of $1.2490.

On the other hand, the dollar index .DXY was up 0.1 percent at 85.97, holding well above support at 85.13. The index posted a bullish reversal on Monday, suggesting more gains for the greenback in the near term.

Beijing’s vow of flexibility for the yuan, which should boost purchasing power and demand in the the world’s third-largest economy, had initially fuelled a rally in risky assets on Monday.

But the rally ebbed with not much follow-through buying, with China’s move undertaken primarily for political purposes, analysts said.

Leaders of the Group of 20 leading industrialised and developing economies are to meet this weekend in Toronto, where global trade imbalances are expected to be a key issue.

China on Monday ruled out a one-off revaluation and said it will reform its exchange rate regime in a gradual manner. [ID:nBJC002566]

“The Chinese decision provided a welcoming short-term distraction in a market gripped by fear and anxiety, but the underlying European fiscal headaches and global growth uncertainties remain unaltered,” wrote Matthew Strauss, currency strategist at RBC Capital.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Main yuan coverage [ID:nCHINATAKE]

Winners and losers from a firmer yuan [ID:nTOE65K02D]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

Some traders said they expect the yuan to be a short-term trading factor until a bigger trend comes to the market.

RBC’s Strauss said the euro’s failure to break past resistance near $1.25 was likely to result in a period of weakness for the single currency.

Against the yen, the euro was down 0.3 percent at 111.89 yen EURJPY=R, having shed about 0.2 percent on Monday.

The euro in recent months has moved with swings in risk appetite. On Monday, the 25-day rolling correlation between the euro and the S&P 500 .SPX was at a robust 54 percent.

The fading risk rally was also evident in stock markets.

The Australian dollar AUD=D4, which had gained 1.4 percent in the previous session, was at $0.8783, with support at $0.8750 — Monday’s low — and strong resistance at Monday’s $0.8860 high.

The Aussie earlier jumped to hit the day’s peak at $0.8834 after the yuan mid-point fixing. (Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney and Satomi Noguchi in Tokyo; Editing by Joseph Radford)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

South African Markets – Factors to watch on June 22

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

June 22 (Reuters) – The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect South African markets on Tuesday.

- – - -

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian stocks retreated on Tuesday as investors booked profits a day after China’s weekend decision to give its currency more flexibility triggered a risk rally. [MKTS/GLOB]

SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS

South African stocks gained on Monday as China’s pledge to allow a more flexible exchange rate lifted commodity and oil prices while the rand rallied to a seven-week high on the news before giving up the gains. [.J]

ESKOM ESCJ.J STRIKE TALKS

South Africa’s biggest union said it was hopeful fresh wage negotiations on Monday with state-owned power utility Eskom could avert a strike that could disrupt electricity supply during the World Cup. [ID:nLDE65K23Y]

MEDI-CLINIC (MDCJ.J)

The South African private healthcare company said it plans to raise to raise 1.4 billion rand ($186 million) via a rights offer to fund expansion in Switzerland, where it runs the country’s biggest private hospital group. [ID:nLDE65K21B]

REMGRO (REMJ.J)

The South African investment firm reported a 30 percent decline in full-year earnings on Monday, in line with expectations, after it spun off its stake in British American Tobacco (BTIJ.J) to shareholders. [ID:nLDE65K1V0]

WEEKLY MAIZE DATA

The South African Grain Information Service releases data on weekly maize imports and exports at 1000 GMT.

Q1 EMPLOYMENT DATA

Statistics South Africa releases Q1 quarterly employment statistics at 0930 GMT.

GOLD XAU=

Gold gained on Tuesday as the euro jumped after China’s central bank set the yan’s daily mid-point at its strongest since a 2005 revaluation, while a drop in bullion prices from a record also triggered bargain hunting. [GOL/]

WALL STREET

U.S. stocks once again succumbed to late-day selling light trade on Monday as hopes China’s newfound dedication to yuan flexibility turned to doubts about the speed and magnitude of Beijing’s intentions. [.N]

EMERGING MARKETS

For the top emerging markets news, double click on [nTOPEMRG]

- – - -

Some of the main stories out of the South African press:

BUSINESS DAY

- Telkom CEO may leave prematurely

- SARS stakes out nhigh net-worth individuals

- First Uranium “came close to bankruptcy”

BUSINESS REPORT

- Mayibuye set to build on Blue in Africa

THE STAR

- Storm the Bastille, Bafana (Reporting by David Dolan)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

RPT-GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks fall as yuan euphoria fades

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

HONG KONG, June 22 (Reuters) – Asian stocks retreated on Tuesday as investors booked profits a day after China’s weekend decision to give its currency more flexibility triggered a risk rally.

China’s move on the yuan had set off optimism that a stronger yuan would lift its purchasing power for foreign goods such as commodities, a boon to the global economy given the nation’s vast appetite for raw materials.

But that euphoria was checked as investors took a more considered view on the impact the move would have on economic fundamentals.

“The potential boost that might be given to consumption is likely to be subtracted from what will happen to exports,” said Emil Wolter, head of regional strategy at Royal Bank of Scotland.

“But the bottom line is that the market is making a huge deal of an insubstantial occurrence,” he said, adding that the yuan move had triggered a rally because it came after stocks registered their worst May in 12 years and at a time when there were large short positions.

“Sell in May and go away” is an old stock market adage which refers to the seasonal weakness in shares.

Beijing set the mid-point for the yuan’s daily trading range at a 5-year high on Tuesday, which gave the markets a brief respite from the selling but kept most indexes in the red.

On Tuesday, the MSCI index of Asia Pacific ex-Japan stocks .MIAPJ0000PUS was down 0.7 percent, hovering around the day’s lows. Losses in technology .MIAPJIT00PUS and resources .MIAPJMT00PUS provided the main drag.

China’s central bank set the yuan’s daily mid-point CNY=SAEC at 6.7980 against the dollar on Tuesday, the highest level since the yuan’s revaluation in July 2005, signalling it could allow the yuan to rise further.

Spot yuan rose to as high as 6.7900 in early trade, up 0.11 percent from the close on Monday, when it jumped 0.42 percent. But by mid-day it was down 0.17 percent.

Tuesday’s fixing initially reignited demand for riskier currency trades, with the Australian dollar AUD= and the euro EUR= jumping to the day’s high against the dollar. But that rise was short-lived and by noon the euro EUR= dipped 0.1 percent to $1.2298.

The Australian dollar rose as high as $0.8834 AUD=D4, up from around $0.8765 just before the mid-point was announced. The Australian dollar then dipped to $0.8782, up 0.23 percent on the day.

Financial markets have also turned cautious ahead of Britain’s budget which will be announced later on Tuesday.

As the sovereign debt crisis spreads through Europe, rating agencies have warned even Britain’s triple-A status could be at risk if the finance minister’s plans to cut the record deficit are found wanting.

FOREIGN BUYING HALTS

“Investors are growing more cautious on the view that the magnitude of the yuan’s new flexibility may not be as big as the market had earlier hoped,” said Lee Sun-yeb, a market analyst at Shinhan Investment Corporation in Seoul.

“It seems the market is taking a bit of breather following its recent sharp gains, as it nears the earlier high. Foreign buying has also halted.”

Japan’s Nikkei share average .N225 was down 1 percent.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index fell half a percent as foreigners dumped shares amid growing risk aversion. Foreign investors turned sellers on Tuesday snapping their seven-session buying streak.

Oil prices fell 0.8 percent toward $77 on speculation that a gradual appreciation of the yuan would have a limited impact on China’s petroleum imports in the short term.

China’s stock market, one of the world’s worst performers this year, managed to cling on to gains after the previous day’s surge. The Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC was up 0.3 percent, after rising 2.9 percent on Monday to its highest close in 3 weeks. [.SS]

And analysts expect more volatility ahead as the central bank’s move comes a day after it kept the mid-point unchanged.

“The authorities want to say they are showing a more hands off approach and more flexibility in the markets but the reality is they are introducing more intraday volatility in the market,” said Craig Chan, senior FX strategist at Nomura International. (Additional reporting by Saikat Chatterjee in HONG KONG and Jungyoun Park in SEOUL; Editing by Jan Dahinten)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

FOREX-Euro, Aussie pare post-yuan fixing gains

June 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

TOKYO, June 22 (Reuters) – The euro slipped on Tuesday, giving back gains made after China set the yuan’s mid-point at its highest since the yuan’s revaluation in 2005, as players wondered how fast the Chinese authorities would let their currency rise.

The euro and the Australian dollar hit their highs for the day after China’s central bank set the yuan’s daily mid-point at 6.7980 against the dollar, stronger than Monday’s 6.8275 per dollar. Traders took it as a sign it could allow the yuan to rise further.

The rise in the euro and the Australian dollar was short-lived, however, as spot yuan CNY=CFXS eased against the dollar after soaring to its highest level since its July 2005 revaluation.

“The euro and the Aussie slipped simply because the yuan eased, with some players suspecting Chinese authorities might be intervening to rein in the yuan’s rise,” said a senior FX trader at a big Japanese brokerage.

The market took the yuan 0.42 percent higher on Monday, its biggest one-day rise since the 2005 revaluation. But dealers fear the central bank will not let the market keep boosting the yuan at the pace seen the previous day.

The euro EUR= dipped 0.1 percent to $1.2298, off the day’s peak of $1.2355. It hit a one-month high of $1.2490 on trading platform EBS on Monday after China pledged to allow the yuan to rise, boosting confidence in the global economy.

Near-term support was seen at $1.2253, a 38.2 percent Fibonacci retracement of the rise from a four-year low of $1.1875 on June 7 to Monday’s high of $1.2490.

On the other hand, the dollar index .DXY was up 0.1 percent at 86.01, holding well above support at 85.13. The index posted a bullish reversal on Monday, suggesting more gains for the greenback in the near term.

Beijing’s vow of flexibility for the yuan, which should boost purchasing power and demand in the the world’s third-largest economy, had initially fuelled a rally in risky assets on Monday.

But the rally ebbed with not much follow-through buying, with China’s move undertaken primarily for political purposes, analysts said. Leaders of the Group of 20 leading industrialised and developing economies are to meet next week in Toronto, where global trade imbalances are expected to be a key issue.

China on Monday ruled out a one-off revaluation and said it will reform its exchange rate regime in a gradual manner. [ID:nBJC002566]

“The Chinese decision provided a welcoming short-term distraction in a market gripped by fear and anxiety, but the underlying European fiscal headaches and global growth uncertainties remain unaltered,” wrote Matthew Strauss, currency strategist at RBC Capital.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Main yuan coverage [ID:nCHINATAKE]

Winners and losers from a firmer yuan [ID:nTOE65K02D]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

Some traders said they expect the yuan to be a short-term trading factor until a bigger trend comes to the market.

RBC’s Strauss said the euro’s failure to break past resistance near $1.25 was likely to result in a period for weakness for the single currency. Against the yen, the euro was down 0.3 percent at 111.94 EURJPY=R, having shed about 0.2 percent on Monday.

The euro in recent months has moved with swings in risk appetite. On Monday, the 25-day rolling correlation between the euro and the S&P 500 .SPX was at a robust 54 percent.

The fading risk rally was also evident in stock markets.

The Australian dollar AUD=D4, which had gained 1.4 percent in the previous session, was at $0.8785, with support at $0.8750 — Monday’s low — and strong resistance at Monday’s $0.8860 high.

The Aussie jumped to hit the day’s peak at $0.8834 after the yuan mid-point fixing. (Additional reporting by Anirban Nag in Sydney and Satomi Noguchi in Tokyo; Editing by Chris Gallagher)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chinese c.bank sets yuan mid-point at 6.8259

April 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

SHANGHAI, April 12 (Reuters) – The central bank set the
mid-point of the yuan’s CNY=CFXS CNY=SAEC exchange rate
against the dollar on Monday, little changed from Friday, despite
mounting speculation that China may soon shift currency policy.

Mid-point Previous day’s mid-point Previous day’s close

6.8259 6.8260 6.8239

Expectations that China will let the yuan resume its rise, in
one form or another, have grown in tandem with a recent easing in
Sino-U.S. tensions over the currency. Markets are speculating
that the yuan could be depegged by mid-year.

The People’s Bank of China, the central bank, issues the
mid-point data through the interbank market, the China Foreign
Exchange Trade System (www.chinamoney.com.cn).

The yuan may rise or fall 0.5 percent from its mid-point each
day, but it has moved only a small fraction of its band in most
trading sessions since it was revalued by 2.1 percent to 8.11 per
dollar on July 21, 2005.

In the three years following the revaluation, the central
bank allowed the yuan to appreciate a further 19 percent against
the dollar. The yuan’s traded peak since the revaluation was
6.8099, reached on Sept. 23, 2008.

Since July 2008, however, the central bank has used the
mid-point to keep the yuan at a virtual peg to the dollar within
a narrow 100-pip range, to protect China’s economy as it
confronted a slowdown due to the global financial crisis.
(Reporting by Chen Yixin and Edmund Klamann)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Chinese c.bank sets yuan mid-point at 6.8266

March 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

SHANGHAI, March 29 (Reuters) – The central bank set the
mid-point of the yuan’s CNY=CFXS CNY=SAEC exchange rate
against the dollar on Monday as follows.

Mid-point Previous day’s mid-point Previous day’s close

6.8266 6.8268 6.8270

SOURCE: The People’s Bank of China, the central bank, issues
the data through the interbank market, the China Foreign Exchange
Trade System (www.chinamoney.com.cn).

The yuan may rise or fall 0.5 percent from its mid-point each
day, but it has moved only a small fraction of its band in most
trading sessions since it was revalued by 2.1 percent to 8.11 per
dollar on July 21, 2005.

In the three years following the revaluation, the central
bank allowed the yuan to appreciate a further 19 percent against
the dollar. The yuan’s traded peak since the revaluation was
6.8099, reached on Sept. 23, 2008.

Since July 2008, however, the central bank has used the
mid-point to keep the yuan at a virtual peg to the dollar within
a narrow 100-pip range, to protect China’s economy as it
confronted a slowdown due to the global financial crisis.
(Reporting by Chen Yixin and Edmund Klamann)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Boffins one-step closer to prevent bone loss during spaceflight

March 21, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 21 (ANI): Researchers from University of Washington have found a novel way to prevent bone loss during spaceflight.

Studies have shown that the absence of gravity is causing astronauts on the International Space Station to lose up to 10 times more bone mass in key regions of the body each month than most post-menopausal women do in the same period of time back here on Earth.

While using bedrest as an analog of spaceflight, scientists could able to prevent bone loss in a specific region of the hip.

They are at the mid-point of a study in which 22 volunteers remain in bed, in a six-degree, head-down tilt position for 84 days.

The head-down tilt mimics many of the physiologic adaptations astronauts experience during spaceflight, such as bodily fluid shifts toward the head.

The bedrest confinement mimics the complete “unloading” of the musculoskeletal system that astronauts feel as they float through space due to the lack of gravity, which accelerates bone loss.

During the study, half of the participants are randomized to perform individually prescribed intermittent treadmill exercise similar to workouts by astronauts in space — but with one important difference. They were pulled towards the treadmill surface by a harness applying greater force than what was previously measured during walking and running.

With the help of treadmill exercise countermeasure, the research team was able to prevent bone loss in important skeletal regions.

“We have found that we can, on average, prevent bone loss in an important region of the hip with this intervention,” said Dr. Peter Cavanagh, UW professor of orthopaedics and sports medicine, and principal investigator of the study.

“No bedrest study ever before has accomplished this,

“This study takes us another step closer to learning how to maintain bone health during and after these space missions,” he added. (ANI)

Filed Under: Health News Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,