Saudi Arabia considering establishing gold refineries, says top official

BEIJING: China’s yuan eased from a one-month high against the dollar on Tuesday, pressured by broad strength in the greenback, while some investors gauged the pace of economic recovery after Shanghai lifted its COVID-19 lockdown.

Prior to market opening, the People’s Bank of China set the midpoint at 6.6649 per dollar, 42 pips firmer than the previous fix 6.6691.

In the spot market, the onshore yuan eased from a month high of 6.6391 per dollar hit on Monday and was changing hands at 6.6650 by midday, 106 pips weaker than the previous late session close.

China’s May exports, imports recovering as supply chains restart

China’s exports are expected to have expanded at a faster pace in May as factories reopened and supply chain disruptions calmed after Shanghai began to emerge from a lockdown, while imports also likely rose, a Reuters poll showed.

The recovery adds to evidence the world’s second-largest economy has begun to chart a path out of the supply-side shock that rocked world trade and global markets.

Exports in May likely grew 8.0 percent from a year earlier, accelerating from a 3.9 percent expansion in April, according to a median forecast in a Reuters poll of 28 economists.

Official data showed the average daily container throughput at the Port of Shanghai rose 7 percent in May from a month earlier.

Imports were expected to have risen 2 percent year-on-year in May, the poll showed, likely driven by imports of raw materials and intermediate goods as domestic production resumed. That compared with flat growth in April.

China’s trade surplus is likely to have widened to $58 billion from $51.12 billion in April.

Chinese tech ADRs rise as Didi probe ends

US-listed Chinese technology stocks rose on Monday after a report that regulators in China are concluding a probe into ride-hailing giant Didi Global raised expectations of easing crackdowns on the country’s Internet sector.

The Cyberspace Administration of China is concluding its cybersecurity probe into Didi and two other companies, Full Truck Alliance Co. and Kanzhun Ltd., and will allow their mobile apps back on Chinese app stores, the Wall Street Journal reported.

That sent Didi’s shares surging about 50 percent and lifted the broader US market, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq up 1.8 percent and the benchmark S&P 500 gaining 1.3 percent.

Shares of Full Truck, known as the “Uber of trucks,” and online recruiter Zhipin.com-owner Kanzhun rose more than 20 percent each.

US-listed shares of Chinese Internet and e-commerce firms Alibaba Group, Baidu, JD.Com and Pinduoduo gained between 3.8 percent and 11.2 percent on Monday.

American depositary receipts of electric vehicle startups Li Auto, Nio and Xpeng rose in the range of 5.2 percent to 14 percent.

(With input from Reuters)