Yuan weakens against US dolla for 4 days

The value of the Chinese currency Renminbi, or the yuan, has fallen against the U.S. dollars for four days in a row after weakening 30 basis points to 6.1176 against the greenback on Friday. It fell 123 points during the four days, after dropping 20 basis points on Tuesday, dipping another 30 points on Wednesday, and declining 43 points on Thursday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System. Analysts said the recent decline of the yuan concurred with big banks' buying of foreign exchanges amid concerns of an economic slowdown, as investors, who used to be overly optimistic on the yuan's appreciation, are starting to come up with new approaches. Chinese economic growth eased to 7.7 percent in 2013 from 7.8 percent in 2012. A report released by Xiamen University on Thursday forecast growth will further slow to 7.62 percent in 2014. Leading economic indicators such as the purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing sector, dropped to a six-month low of 50.5 percent in January, marking a bumpy start for the Chinese economy in 2014. Lian Ping, chief economist at the Bank of Communications, said that China's foreign trade looks to have turned more balanced, which will put less pressure on the yuan's appreciation. Meanwhile, the United States' tapering of its quantitative easing also does not support the continuous and sharp gains of the yuan. In China's foreign exchange spot market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 1 percent from the central parity rate each trading day. The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices before the opening of the market each business day.