Offshore yuan's jump spurs suspicion of Beijing intervention

A sudden upswing of more than 1% for the offshore yuan’s value against the US dollar on Thursday left traders suspecting Chinese banks had intervened to shake out speculators betting the currency would depreciate, Reuters reported. Investors have been positioning for yuan depreciation since the currency’s sudden devaluation in August, which sparked fears the economy was slowing down more than expected. “There’s been rumors before of state entities acting on behalf of the central bank offshore,” said Mark Williams, an economist at Capital Economics. “It shows that policymakers are unwilling to relax control of key variables that now include the offshore currency.”