Yuan climbs as China’s central bank cuts key liquidity rate

Yuan climbs as China’s central bank cuts key liquidity rate

The Chinese Yuan inched up on Monday in Asia after the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) had cut a key liquidity rate for the first time since 2015.

The major USD/CNY pair climbed up by 0.1% to 7.0112 by 11:46 PM ET (03:46 GMT). The PBOC had slashed the interest rate on its seven-day reverse repurchase agreements. This coincided with the nation’s aim to boost business confidence after a set of poor economic data released last week.

Meanwhile, the Sino-U.S. trade deal had showed signs of progress, as Chinese state media Xinhua reported that Chinese Vice Premier Liu He spoke with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer about a phase-one trade deal in a phone call Saturday morning.

The two sides were said to have had “constructive discussions” about “each other’s core concerns,” according to the USTR, who confirmed the call took place.

Markets were also boosted by comments from White House Economic Advisor Larry Kudlow, who said on Friday that China and the U.S. were close to a deal.