British pound plummets to new 31-year low on renewed Brexit fallout fears, China fixes yuan at fresh multi-year low

The Chinese yuan continued its slide on Wednesday morning after the Chinese central bank fixed the currency at a fresh five and a half year low against the US dollar, while the British pound skidded to a new 31-year low versus the greenback on renewed concerns about the Brexit fallout.

The People’s Bank of China set the yuan’s mid-point rate at 6.6857 per US dollar, down 263 pips from the previous fix. It marked the lowest level since December 2010. On Tuesday, the PBOC also cut the reference rate by 122 pips to 6.6594.

Offshore yuan in Hong Kong declined 0.2 per cent to 6.6975 per US dollar as of 9.38am, according to data from Bloomberg. The onshore yuan in Shanghai was almost unchanged at 6.6845.

The British pound sank further as fears resurfaced overnight about the Brexit impact after three UK property funds were frozen due to a surge in investor withdrawls. Sterling was down 0.6 per cent to 1.294 per US dollar as of 9.38am, its weakest level since 1985.

(SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)