Off the wire
• UN chief "saddened" by attacks in northeastern Nigerian  • Urgent: Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says he has cancer  • UN chief appoints new head of UN mission in Liberia  • 1st LD Writethru: U.S. dollar lower on China's currency move  • BMW Group reports best July vehicle sales  • Urgent: U.S. stocks end narrowly mixed amid China's currency move  • S.Korea, U.S. to hold summit in Washington on Oct. 16  • 1st Ld Writethru: Oil prices rebound after heavy selloff  • Foreign exchange rate of Euro to other currencies  • Germany's benchmark DAX index falls  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: U.S. stocks end narrowly mixed amid China's currency move

Xinhua, August 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

U.S. stocks reversed early big losses to close mixed Wednesday, as investors continued to assess impacts of the Chinese central bank's decision to improve its foreign exchange rate formation system.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.33 point, or less than 0.01 percent, to 17,402.51. The S&P 500 added 1.98 points, or 0.10 percent, to 2,086.05. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 7.60 points, or 0.15 percent, to 5,044.39.

Chinese yuan extended its decline on Wednesday but is unlikely to depreciate significantly as the central bank and stable fundamentals will not allow the currency to go into freefall.

The spot rate fell about three percent to its lowest level since October 2012 when the central bank reformed the exchange rate formation system on Tuesday. The central parity rate fell 1.6 percent, to 6.3306 against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday.

In a latest statement released on Wednesday, the central bank said there was no reason for the yuan to depreciate further.

In a statement, the IMF described the Chinese central bank's move as "a welcome step," saying a more market-oriented exchange rate would facilitate the operation of the special drawing rights (SDR) if the RMB was included in the basket.

In corporate news, shares of Alibaba plunged 5.12 percent to 73. 38 dollars apiece Wednesday after the China's e-commerce giant posted the slowest growth in more than three years.

Alibaba's revenue for the quarter ending June 30, 2015 was 3. 265 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 28 percent compared with the same quarter of 2014.

Macy's Inc. slumped 5.06 percent to 64.11 dollars per share after posting weaker-than-expected quarterly results. It also cut its full-year outlook.

The retailer's earnings were 64 cents per diluted share for the second quarter of 2015, compared with earnings of 80 cents per diluted share in second quarter 2014.

On U.S. economic front, the number of job openings was little changed at 5.2 million on the last business day of June, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. Endite