Close To 7.2500, President Xi Expected To Meet With US Executives

USD/CNH was rangebound through Tuesday trade. Post the Asia close we drifted up from the low 7.2400 region before finding selling interest above 7.2500 in NY trade. We track close to 7.2490 in early Wednesday dealings. USD/CNY finished up at 7.2167 on Tuesday, while the CNY NEER (J.P. Morgan index) edged down 0.09% to 124.63.

• Focus again today will rest on the USD/CNY fix and any response from state owned banks post the onshore spot open. BBG notes that state banks became more active dollar sellers after onshore spot rose above 7.2100 yesterday.
• The China MNI policy team noted late yesterday that more yuan volatility was likely ahead (see this link for more details). The piece notes that USD/CNY may rise to 7.24-7.26 in the near term, while USD/CNH may approach 7.3000 but is unlikely to reach 7.35, (7.3682 was the record high set last Sep).
• Locally on the data front today we have Feb industrial profits, the prior print in ytd y/y terms was -2.3%.
• The other focus point today is an expected meeting between some US executives and China President Xi Jinping, see this BBG link for more details).
• In the equity space, the Golden Dragon Index fell 0.55%, the index's 8th fall in the last 9 trading sessions. Onshore equities performed better yesterday, the CSI 300 closing up just over 0.50%.