Chart Of The Day: Is China's Yuan A New Equity Market Leading Indicator?

 | Aug 06, 2019 09:08

The Chinese yuan could very well be the critical indicator for whether the U.S. market is topping out or not.

Markets plunged after China allowed its currency to weaken below the 7 yuan to dollar level yesterday—which has been considered a red line—for the first time in over a decade. This was part of China’s retaliation for U.S. President Donald Trump’s slapping another tariff of 10% on all remaining $300 billion Chinese imports.

Trump has been accusing the Asian country of currency manipulation since he ran for president, and it's still one of the main points of contention in the trade dispute between the U.S. and China.

The fact that China allowed its currency to weaken past the 7 psychological level was its warning that they will play dirty if they have to, despite what their officials have been publicly saying.

The People's Bank of China today stepped up to defend the 7 level, with the result that the worst global selloff of the year eased, and U.S. futures are back in the green. This shows a positive correlation between the Chinese currency and global equities, including U.S. stocks, as the trade war dynamics have turned the yuan into a leading indicator for equity markets.