FX.co ★ Offshore Yuan Holds Steady

On Monday, the offshore yuan stabilized at approximately 7.12 per dollar, pausing from the previous session's decline. Investors attentively followed the US-China discussions while processing weaker-than-anticipated domestic economic figures. Commencing in Madrid on Sunday, US and Chinese representatives engaged in talks to mitigate tensions concerning national security and trade issues. Key points of discussion included the impending necessity for TikTok, a Chinese short video app, to divest as well as Washington's campaign urging allies to levy tariffs on China due to its involvement in Russian oil. This session marked the fourth such meeting in as many months across various European capitals. Concurrently, new economic data from China pointed to a delicate situation: retail sales climbed merely by 3.4% in August, the slowest rate in eight months, while industrial production growth tapered to 5.2%, marking the weakest performance in a year. Additionally, fixed-asset investment saw a marginal rise of only 0.5% from January to August, falling short of forecasts, and the unemployment rate reached a six-month peak at 5.3%. The focus now shifts to the upcoming loan prime rate announcement, with analysts largely anticipating that the rate will remain unchanged.