The offshore yuan fell to its lowest point in nearly two months, trading past 7.21 per dollar on Friday, largely due to renewed trade tensions between the US and China. This comes after President Trump announced new global tariffs, including a 10% baseline, reciprocal duties up to 41% for countries without trade deals, and a 40% tariff on goods suspected of being re-routed. The market sentiment was further dampened by recent Chinese manufacturing PMI data for July, which showed contraction and indicated a loss of economic momentum. Despite these developments, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent noted that ongoing trade talks with China, facing an August 12 tariff pause deadline, show promise for a deal.

Most Asian currencies are mixed on Friday. Japanese yen is higher by 0.16%. The Indonesian rupiah is higher by 0.75%, while the Indian rupee is higher 0.14%. The Malaysian ringgit is lower by 0.34% and the Philippine peso is higher by 0.06%. The Australian dollar is higher by 0.18%, the Singapore dollar is higher by 0.05%, and the South Korean won is lower 0.42%.