The Chinese yuan is slumping against many major currencies at the end of the trading week. The yuan, which has plummeted in the wake of the escalation in the US-China trade war, rebounded on bullish economic data midweek but has since retreated on disappointing numbers.
According to the Ministry of Commerce, foreign direct investment (FDI) advanced 6.2% in April, down from 6.5% in March. So far this year, China has recorded FDI gains in every month. The last time foreign direct investment contracted was in December when it fell 1.3%.
Chinaâs real estate market appears to be on the rise again as housing prices climbed for the 11th consecutive month, the National Bureau of Statistics reports. In April, the average price of new homes in 70 Chinese cities advanced 10.7%, up from 10.6% in the previous month. This is lower than the median estimate of 11.1%.
Specifically, of the countryâs four largest markets, Guangzhou posted the biggest gains (13.3%), followed by Beijing (3.5%), Shanghai (1.5%), and Shenzhen (0.7%).
Investors will now wait until the end of the month for major economic data, including industrial profits, manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI), and non-manufacturing PMI. The biggest figures will come out on June 9 when trade data is announced.
On Friday, the White House announced that it was suspending tariffs on foreign automobiles for six months as a new trade agreement is figured out.
The USD/CNY currency pair surged 0.44% to 6.9141, from an opening of 6.8838, at 13:34 GMT on Friday. The yuan will have lost about 1.5% in the last week. The EUR/CNY spiked 0.47% to 7.7269, from an opening of 7.6909.
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