Overnight on Wednesday, CNH – the offshore deliverable CNY – touched 7.1965, its weakest level on record and the weakest level of any version of the Chinese currency since January 2008. By setting CNY parity on Thursday substantially stronger than that, at 7.1277, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) apparently attempted to stem the slide, but to no avail. Levels came in a bit from the noon-time HK reading of 7.1680, to 7.1580 by 7pm, but not convincingly so. Part of the story is the conviction of some traders that the Chinese government actually welcomes a weak yuan in order to support exports. I believe that to be ... (full story)