Dollar rises, yuan slumps as China’s COVID unrest spooks markets

by ANKASAM Ekip

The dollar climbed on Monday as protests in China against the government’s anti-COVID policies made investors turn away from riskier assets, and consigned the Chinese yuan to a more than two-week low against the safe-haven greenback, APA reports citing Reuters.

The protests have flared across China and spread to several cities in the wake of an apartment fire that killed 10 people in Urumqi in the country’s far west. Hundreds of demonstrators and police clashed in Shanghai on Sunday night.

Investors were worried over how the government in Beijing would react to the the wave of civil disobedience when COVID cases are rising.

“We’re really looking at the government response to what’s happening … the government response is so unpredictable, and of course that just means derisking,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone.

The offshore yuan fell to an over two-week low in Asian trading, and was last roughly 0.4% lower at 7.2242 per dollar.

The Australian dollar , often used as a liquid proxy for the yuan, slid more than 1% to $0.6681. The kiwi fell 0.72% to $0.6202.

China’s stringent COVID restrictions have taken a heavy toll on its economy, and authorities have implemented various measures to revive growth. On Friday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the nation’s central bank, said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for banks by 25 basis points (bps), effective from Dec. 5.

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