The ‘weaponized’ yuan continues its collapse – back above 6.6 per USD for the first time since December and down 6% from the March highs.
The last time the yuan devalued this fast, it unleashed hell on the world’s financial markets
Chinese stocks are fading at the open after yesterday’s bounce in Shenzhen and CHINEXT (tech-heavy) indices…
And this comes shortly after Bloomberg reports that, according to a macro-research firm SGH Macro Advisors, China is girding for a full-scale trade war, and U.S. Treasuries may not be immune to the skirmish.
President Xi Jinping presided over a meeting of China’s highest decision-making body for the first time to discuss China-US relations, according to Sassan Ghahramani, CEO of SGH Macro Advisors, in a note to clients.
At a subsequent two-day meeting, Xi reportedly spent over two hours talking about U.S.-China relations and called on all provinces and ministries to be prepared for a full-scale trade war, according to Ghahramani.
Chinese officials have concluded it appears inevitable the U.S. will impose tariffs on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods on July 6, and will respond accordingly with tariffs of their own.
Contrary to reports last week, SGH’s understanding is there have been no talks between the Commerce Departments of the two sides.
In the short term, officials expect the currency will weaken due to trade concerns.
The PBOC also will refrain from increasing holdings of U.S. Treasuries and, in fact, will seek to reduce them “appropriately,” Ghahramani writes.
For now, Treasuries are flat as the yuan plunges, but that can all change very quickly. But for now, it is China that is bearing the brunt of global capital markets’ anxiety.
via RSS https://ift.tt/2tI6okr Tyler Durden