BEIJING: China fell on Tuesday as the yuan eased against the dollar, reigniting fears that Beijing may be intent on a deeper devaluation of the currency despite the central bank’s comments that it sees no reason for a further slide.
The CSI300 index fell 1 percent to 4,038.26 points by the end of the morning session, while the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.5 percent to 3,935.33 points.
“Anticipation of further devaluation discouraged investors from holding yuan-denominated assets,” said Alex Wong, a director at Ample Finance Group in Hong Kong.
“We see no positive catalyst that can boost the market in the medium run. Investors are not keen to enter the market when they see very limited upside potential,” Wong added.
China CSI300 stock index futures for August fell 0.6 percent, to 3,964, 74.26 points below the current value of the underlying index.
The yuan fell against the dollar on Tuesday despite a slightly stronger midpoint set by the central bank, and traders expect the currency to remain under downward pressure as the economy struggles.
The People’s Bank of China devalued the currency last week by nearly 2 percent, triggering an avalanche of selling by investors who feared Beijing wanted to engineer a much sharper decline to support weak exports. The PBOC was later forced to step into the market and tell state banks to support the currency.
