China Markets Re-Open, Caixin Services PMI Slumped In September

The focus will be on the return of China onshore markets following last week's holiday period. USD/CNH is around 7.1350 in early trade today, little change from closing levels at the end of last week. The pair hasn't spent much time above 7.1500 since the authorities reportedly warned of offshore intervention in the CNH market.

• Note over the weekend, the Caixin services PMI fell sharply, back into contractionary territory, printing at 49.3 versus 54.4 forecast. We are still well above the April trough of 36.20, but suggests this part of the economy, small sector services companies struggled.
• Whilst Chengdu has emerged from lockdown, covid case numbers are on the rise again. We are back to fresh highs in terms of daily cases going back to the start of September (see this link for more details).
• Today will also see the first USD/CNY fixing since September 30th. The 4:30pm close on this day was 7.0931, while the DXY is at slightly higher levels over the past week (112.84). The last fixing printed at 7.0998.