Yuan falls to lowest since November as Chinese economy sputters

China's yuan fell to the weakest level since November after a series of disappointing economic figures added to concern about the nation's sputtering growth. The offshore yuan dropped as much as 0.5% Monday to 7.2927 per dollar.

The currency has now tumbled about 5% this year, the worst performer in Asia after the yen.

"People's Bank of China has been trying like crazy to keep it contained," said Brad Bechtel, a foreign-exchange strategist at Jefferies. "What they are doing isn't stopping it, but it is slowing it down and maybe that is all they care about." The offshore rate could have been weaker than 7.400 or even 7.500 if not for those efforts, he said.


The yuan has been undermined as Chinese economic data for July have almost all trailed market expectations.