Investing.com — Most Asian currencies rose on Thursday as a rebound in the dollar paused, while the Chinese yuan shot up amid reports of government intervention to support the battered currency.

The yuan surged 0.7%, with a Reuters report stating that China’s biggest state-owned banks were seen selling dollars for yuan in the offshore spot market in early trade.

The People’s Bank of China also kept its benchmark loan prime rate on hold on Thursday, and loosened a cross-border financing rule that is expected to ease pressure on the yuan.

The currency was among the best performing Asian units for the day, with the offshore yuan also strengthening about 0.7% to the dollar. Reported intervention by the Chinese government comes as signs of slowing economic growth in China weighed on the yuan this week.

Data released on Monday showed that China’s economy barely grew in the second quarter.

Concerns over China had pulled most Asian currencies lower this week, even as the government vowed more fiscal support for a slowing economic recovery. But Asian currencies recovered some lost ground on Thursday.

The Japanese yen rose 0.3% after coming close to hitting the 140 level against the dollar in overnight trade. The currency was also supported by data showing that Japan logged an unexpected trade surplus in June.

The South Korean won rose 0.2%, while the Indian rupee rose 0.1%.

Australian dollar rallies as labor data cheers RBA hawks
The Australian dollar surged 0.8% on Thursday, reversing three sessions of losses as data showed the country’s labor market grew more than expected in June.

Strength in the labor market factors into higher consumer inflation, which gives the Reserve Bank more cause and space to keep raising interest rates – a scenario that bodes well for the Australian currency.

While the bank had kept rates steady, the minutes of the RBA meeting released this week showed that it was still considering more rate hikes, given sticky inflation levels and a robust jobs market.

The U.S. dollar retreated slightly in Asian trade after marking a strong rebound in the past three sessions. The dollar index and dollar index futures fell about 0.2% each.

Traders began building positions in the dollar ahead of a Federal Reserve meeting next week, with the central bank widely expected to raise rates by 25 basis points.

But focus remains largely on whether the Fed will signal an extended pause in its rate hike cycle, given recent softness in U.S. inflation.

https://www.investing.com/news/forex-news/asia-fx-rises-chinese-yuan-surges-amid-intervention-reports-3129388

Investing.com — Most Asian stocks rose sharply on Tuesday amid expectations that the Federal Reserve was close to concluding its rate hike cycle for the year, while the prospect of more stimulus measures from China also aided sentiment.

Comments from several Fed officials this week suggested that while the central bank will still hike rates further in the coming months, it will have limited headroom to keep doing so. Weak labor market data also furthered this notion.

A swathe of weak economic readings from China spurred increased bets that Beijing will roll out more stimulus measures to help support a slowing economic recovery. Inflation data on Monday showed that consumer spending was on the brink of deflation, sending largely bearish signals on Asia’s largest economy. 

Technology-heavy indexes were the best performers in Asia for the day, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rallying 1.6% on strength in heavyweights Baidu Inc (HK:9888) (NASDAQ:BIDU), Alibaba Group (HK:9988) (NYSE:BABA), and Tencent Holdings Ltd (HK:0700). The trio rose between 1.7% and 2.5%, extending gains from the prior session.

In addition to the prospect of a Fed pause, Asian technology stocks were also aided by easing Chinese scrutiny towards the country’s biggest internet firms. Beijing had last week imposed record-high fines on Alibaba’s Ant Group and Tencent, but investors took this as a sign that the country was now done with its regulatory crusade against its technology giants.

Other tech-heavy bourses also rallied, with South Korea’s KOSPI and the Taiwan Weighted index up 1.4% and 1.2%, respectively.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rose 0.3%, while the broader TOPIX added 0.1%. 

Chinese real estate stocks, including Country Garden Holdings (HK:2007) and China Vanke Co Ltd (SZ:000002), rose on Tuesday after the People’s Bank of China said it was extending policy support for the sector until end-2024. 

The move helped offset some pessimism over slowing growth in China, and also spurred bets on more stimulus spending by Beijing, especially ahead of a high-level government meeting later in July.

Optimism over China fueled a 1.2% jump in Australia’s ASX 200 index, which was also aided by data signaling a recovery in consumer sentiment.

But China’s Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 and Shanghai Composite indexes somewhat lagged their peers, rising 0.5% and 0.4%, respectively. Investors still remained wary of directly investing in Chinese stocks, given the uncertainty over the country’s economic prospects.

Broader Asian markets rose on Tuesday. Futures for India’s Nifty 50 index pointed to a positive open for local stocks, with India’s major indexes trading close to record highs.

Focus was now on key U.S. consumer inflation data due on Wednesday, as well as a string of Fed speakers this week.