Currencies weren’t much affected by data showing a sharp contraction in Chinese imports in April on an annual basis, with exports growing at a slower pace in March.
The Chinese yuan in overseas markets fell 0.1 percent to 6.9282 yuan per dollar, and the yuan lost in local transactions by the same percentage, registering 6.9218 yuan per dollar.
“Last month’s strong trade numbers have been called into question, and that seems to be the case so far,” said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index.
“This could stoke fears of slowing growth, especially given April’s weak PMI,” he added.
China’s official Purchasing Managers’ Index showed last month that manufacturing activity unexpectedly contracted in April, another sign of the country’s shaky economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Australian dollar rose 0.03% to $0.6783, close to Monday’s three-week high of $0.6804.
The New Zealand Dollar fell 0.08% to $0.6340, but was not far off its one-month high of $0.63585 recorded in the previous session.
The dollar index stabilized around 101.44, giving up some of its early gains in Tuesday’s trading session.
The Japanese yen rose about 0.15% to 134.92 yen per dollar.
The pound hit $1.2618 in its last trade, close to the highest level in a year recorded in the last session at $1.2668 before Thursday’s monetary policy meeting at the Bank of England, and the bank is expected to raise interest to 4.5% as part of its attempts to curb the highest level of inflation of any developed economy.
Read the Latest World News Today on The Eastern Herald.
