Chinese stocks and the yuan slipped despite the efforts of the authorities on Thursday, as the gloom in global markets obscured signs that China's economy may not be weakening as fast as some investors had feared.
China's central bank set a firmer mid-point rate for the yuan, signaling determination to hold the line against expectations of a sustained depreciation of a currency that has lost 5 percent of its value against the dollar since August.
Traders said yuan liquidity offshore had been very tight earlier in the week thanks to buying by state-backed banks, acting at the central bank's behest, which pushed overnight borrowing rates in Hong Kong to record highs, making it prohibitivly expensive to bet against the yuan.
A turbulent start to 2016, with the currency and stock markets tumbling, had stoked concerns that Beijing was losing its grip on economic policy, just as the country looks set to post its slowest growth in 25 years.
Asian share markets weakened across the board on Thursday, hit by steep losses on Wall Street overnight as a rout in oil prices heightened worries about the global economy.
China's main stock indexes fell, with the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC down 1.1 percent at the midsession interval, and the CSI300 index .CSI300 down 0.6 percent, below their September lows.
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