Offshore Yuan Holds Decline

The offshore yuan held its decline around 6.71 per dollar on Tuesday, staying off its recent more than three-year high as mixed economic data underscored the fragility of China’s recovery. Fixed-asset investment declined 7.2% in the January—August period, marking the steepest drop for the period since January—April 2020, while retail sales growth slowed to a three-month low of 0.4% in August. The unemployment rate edged up to a five-month high of 5.3% from 5.2% in July. On the positive side, the house price index fell 3% yoy in August, the softest decline since December 2025, while industrial output growth accelerated to 5.2% from 4.5% in July. While China has begun to ramp up fiscal support following a prolonged decline in public spending, pressure remains on policymakers to deploy additional stimulus as economic growth risks falling below the official 4.5%-5.0% annual target for a second straight quarter.