Advertisement
Advertisement
TOPIC

Currencies

Currencies
Currency market action focused on developments with the Chinese yuan and the Hong Kong dollar.
People walk past a foreign currency indicator board showing the rate of the US dollar against the Japanese yen in Tokyo on August 3. Photo: EPA
Japan

US Treasury’s Bessent calls on Japan to boost yen through rate increases

A weak yen, which has pushed up import prices and broader inflation, has been blamed in part on the central bank’s slow pace of rate increases.

Banking & finance

Yuan, Hong Kong dollar bonds surge as issuers seek cheaper funding

Yuan

Open Questions | US economist Barry Eichengreen on how de-dollarisation could actually look

videocam
19
Yuan

Opinion | Deutsche Bank’s yuan mandate boosts Chinese currency’s global reach

The clearing mandate from China elevates Frankfurt as a primary hub for offshore renminbi settlement, challenging London’s dominance.

videocam
A woman sits in front of the Deutsche Bank central headquarters in Frankfurt on July 22. The People’s Bank of China has authorised Deutsche Bank to serve as a renminbi clearing bank, making it the first European lender to receive such approval. Photo: EPA
United States

As I see it | The US is telling its trading partners – do as I say, not as I do

While Washington says it is monitoring certain countries, including Japan, for foreign exchange interventions, it also coordinated with Tokyo to prop up the yen.

15
Banking & finance

Japan’s yen is falling yet again. What could Washington and Tokyo do next?

Another US-Japan intervention may be needed to prop up the Japanese currency, as a US Treasury rout fuels the yen carry trade, analysts say.

15
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Banking & finance

Use of yuan hits 6-month high in Hong Kong’s fast-payment system

Yuan-denominated payments rise 34 per cent, with Payment Connect mechanism acting as catalyst for multiplying cross-border use cases.

The transaction momentum coincides with Beijing’s intensified campaign to internationalise the yuan. Photo: Shutterstock
Banking & finance

Opinion | Chinese treasury futures launch cements Hong Kong as premier yuan hub

It marks Hong Kong’s transformation from a yuan payment channel and funding pool into a comprehensive centre for yuan assets.

videocam
Uzbekistan

Jim Rogers eyes up China’s yuan as he warns of a US market crash

Legendary investor lauds the yuan but says his cash holdings are still in US dollars because the Chinese currency lacks full convertibility.

Banking & finance

Opinion | Just like with the yen, America cannot save the AI bubble

The Japanese currency and US tech stocks share the same fatal problem: momentum can’t survive broken fundamentals.

videocam
4
An electronic board showing the US dollar and Japanese yen exchange rate at a securities firm in Tokyo on August 3. Photo: AP
Bonds

Hong Kong to list first Shanghai free-trade zone bond to defend yuan hub status

HKEX announces that a Shanghai Electric subsidiary is set to list a 1.5 billion yuan green bond later this month.

A view of the Hong Kong skyline. Photo: Getty Images
Banking & finance

Chinese central bank’s 15th five-year plan

The People’s Bank of China pledges to expand global use of the yuan to make the country a financial powerhouse in its first stand-alone five-year plan in at least a decade.

Banking & finance

China’s panda bond market surges as Goldman Sachs flags limits to yuan expansion

Issuance of yuan-denominated debt surges, including in dim sum bond market, but sustained global use of yuan seen requiring broader access and stronger finance links.

Banking & finance

Macroscope | Behind the AI stock market bubble lies a weak yen

The tech stock boom, financed in large part by the yen carry trade, is at risk of collapse if the currency strengthens.

videocam
Pedestrians pass a foreign currency indicator board showing the rate of the US dollar against the Japanese yen in Tokyo on August 3. The yen surged against the US dollar, reaching its strongest level in about three months after Japanese and US monetary authorities conducted a coordinated intervention to buy the yen for the first time in 28 years. Photo: EPA
Banking & finance

Hong Kong preferred base as Chinese SOEs consolidate overseas accounts

City’s attractions include international banking system, deep capital markets, offshore yuan pool and close links with mainland.

videocam
Hong Kong is becoming a hub for central state-owned enterprises’ treasury centres. Photo: Jelly Tse
China-Latin America relations

Argentina extends US$19 billion China currency swap despite US pressure

Buenos Aires locks in the yuan line until 2031, months after the US Treasury Department offered a rival facility.

videocam
17
Banking & finance

Macroscope | US efforts to prop up the yen risk doing more harm than good

Reversing the yen’s long-term decline ultimately rests on Japan’s ability to take its real interest rates out of negative territory – without triggering market panic.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Yuan

China needs a stronger yuan, ‘fiscal boost’ to drive near-term growth: analysts

Rebalancing economy and offsetting a record trade surplus requires targeted stimulus to counter growing global trade barriers, analysts say.

Goldman Sachs analysts have weighed in on the strength of China’s yuan. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Banking & finance

The US helped boost the yen. Can China do the same for the Australian dollar?

Currency traders believe Beijing’s economic policies could give the Australian dollar a boost. Analysts say things are more complex in reality.

videocam
8
China-Latin America relations

Brazil to become regular borrower in China, treasury official says

Brasilia cannot guarantee debut will happen this year, but wants it repeated to give companies a yuan benchmark to aim for.

videocam
5
Japan

US-Japan trade thaw driven by shared yen for stronger currency

How long this boost in relations will last, though, depends on whether the yen can hold its value, experts say.

A woman looks at an electronic screen showing current and recent Japanese yen exchange rates against the US dollar on Monday. Photo: Reuters
Banking & finance

China’s foreign reserves hold steady as external earnings stay in private hands

Hong Kong absorbed nearly two-thirds of mainland China’s portfolio outflows last year and now holds about half of the total external stock, IIF says.

China’s banks, companies and investors operating outside the central bank’s reserve holdings became net creditors in their own right at the end of 2025, according to the Institution of International Finance. Photo: Shutterstock
Yuan

Fresh mBridge progress boosts cross-border digital yuan push

China’s Project mBridge, the multilateral central bank digital currency platform, is moving closer to broader commercial adoption.

Banking & finance

Rare US-Japan intervention as yen hits 40-year low: what does it mean?

Washington steps in to save Tokyo’s weakened currency in first joint yen-buying action for almost 30 years, causing its value to surge.

19
Banking & finance

Opinion | Hong Kong’s Chinese bond futures are a major step for the global yuan

Making Chinese treasury bond futures tradeable on Hong Kong’s stock exchange adds the interest rate hedging component markets have demanded.

videocam
A staff member of a bank in Haian, Jiangsu province, counts 100 yuan notes in March 2024. Foreign institutions held around 2 trillion yuan of Chinese government bonds as of the end of June 2026. Photo: Getty Images
HKEX

Treasury bond futures ‘a milestone’ to boost Hong Kong’s bridgehead role: CSRC

First offshore China government bond futures rose more than 1 per cent on debut on Monday.

The HKEX China government bond futures launch ceremony on Monday. Photo: Jonathan Wong
Banking & finance

China’s CIPS to become settlement norm in Mongolia within 2 years: Golomt Bank

Six months after Golomt adopted the technology, 96 per cent of yuan payments moved from Swift to China’s payment system, the bank says.

Yuan

China’s offshore yuan hits 3-year high as Beijing signals policy support

Politburo’s pledge to stabilise growth and boost capital markets helps drive rally, reinforced by days of relatively strong reference rates by the central bank.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement