The onshore yuan ended its longest winning streak in three decades after the People’s Bank of China moved to cool its rally by asking banks to hold more foreign currencies in reserve.
The yuan weakened as much as 0.4% to 6.6731 per dollar onshore, halting 13 straight days of gains, which was the longest streak since 1996, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It also dropped as much as 0.4% in offshore trading. The PBOC’s move forces banks to lock up more foreign exchange, reducing the supply of dollars and easing the appreciation pressure on the yuan.