China Daily recently reported that on February 19, the Chinese currency, the RMB, sharply depreciated by nearly 100 points against the U.S. Dollar. At least two Chinese major banks triggered this dramatic market change by buying the U.S. Dollar for no apparent reason. Some experts suggested that worries about a tangible slowdown of the Chinese economy is changing people’s positive attitude towards the Chinese currency. The offshore RMB exchange rate and offshore RMB futures also dropped immediately. According to Sina Finance, the official RMB to U.S. dollar exchange rate fell another 88 points on February 21; it thus reached the lowest point since last December. This round of sudden RMB depreciation occurred when there was no other clear market fluctuation.
Source: China Daily, February 19, 2014
http://caijing.chinadaily.com.cn/xfly/2014-02-19/content_11244630.html
Sina Finance, February 21, 2014
http://finance.sina.com.cn/money/forex/20140221/111618291056.shtml