On weaker China PMI, stimulus focus, and US NFP data, USD/CNH rose above 6.9100

While the USD/CNH halted its three-day rally on Wednesday, it has since recovered some of its lost ground during Thursday's Asian trading as risk aversion and disappointing activity statistics push the pair higher. The pair's purchasers, however, are treading carefully as they await the introduction of the Chinese government's stimulus plan.

Caixin Manufacturing PMI in China fell to 49.5 from 50.2 predicted and 50.4 earlier, signaling the steepest decline in activity in three months. In doing so, the private manufacturing index confirms the gloomy state of the world's largest industrial sector, just as the official NBS PMI does.

According to Reuters's citing of state-run media, the Chinese cabinet has announced that the country will unveil the specifics of a set of recently announced policy changes at the start of September. According to the report, China's cabinet also plans to instruct commercial banks to make available medium- and long-term loans for infrastructure development and modernization.

Their power is bolstered by factors like China's covid-led lockdowns and rising tensions with Taiwan. The president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen, has recently expressed an interest in bolstering ties with the United States in the semiconductor industry.

The USD/CNH exchange rate also appears to be driven by central bankers' aggressiveness and strong US Treasury rates notwithstanding deteriorating data. Nonetheless, US 10-year Treasury rates have increased to a two-month high of around 3.21 percent, and 2-year bond coupons have increased to their highest levels since 2007 at around 3.51 percent. The S&P 500 Futures were trading at 3,930, down 0.36 percent intraday, their lowest level since late July as of publishing.

The US ADP Employment Change rose by 132K on Wednesday, below the 288K forecast and the 270K prior reading. However, year-over-year wage growth in August was 7.6 percent in the United States, which put Fed policymakers on edge. Following the release of the statistics, Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank President Loretta Mester told Reuters on Tuesday that she did not anticipate a rate cut from the Fed in 2019. Further, Lory Logan, the recently installed president of the Dallas Fed, has joined the ranks of hawkish central bankers by declaring, "Restoring price stability is our primary aim."

High inflation numbers and hawkish pronouncements from European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan (BOJ) policymakers highlight the central bankers' typically hawkish posture not only in the United States, but also in the Eurozone and Japan.

Positive news about the Chinese stimulus and the expected increase in the US ISM Manufacturing PMI for August from 52.0 to 52.8 on Friday should attract traders ahead of the release of the US Nonfarm Payrolls report on Friday (NFP).

At the time of writing, a USD/CNH decline seems unlikely until a support line near 6.8850 is broken. Even still, Monday's multi-month high of 6.9326 seems to have drawn buyers.