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Mix-Ansicht- Oha! China droht den Amis, den Kauf von Treasuries einzustellen! - kingsolomon, 08.08.2003, 22:57
Oha! China droht den Amis, den Kauf von Treasuries einzustellen!
-->Diese Waffe ist zerstörerischer als jeder Militärschlag.
Wenn die das ernst meinen ist der Ami noch früher 'Toast', als wir hier erwarten.
Reuters
China to tell U.S. to cool yuan criticism--sources
Friday August 8, 3:47 pm ET
By Eric Burroughs and Gertrude Chavez
NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Chinese officials plan to tell U.S. Treasury Secretary John
Snow they might reconsider the country's hefty buying of Treasuries and U.S. agency debt if
Washington doesn't cool its calls for China to revalue the yuan, according to a report this week
seen by market sources.
This week, the currency market buzzed
with speculation about the report, which
is sent only to paying subscribers and
which was one factor behind the dollar's
dive of more than one percent against
the yen on Thursday.
"Part of the (dollar)'s decline may have
(also) been caused by rumors of a
consultant's report that official Asian
accounts will be less inclined to purchase
U.S. Treasuries," strategists with BNP
Paribas wrote in a research note on
Friday.
The report, by geopolitical advisory
group Medley Global Advisors, quotes
Chinese officials saying they will
reiterate that they have not sold any
Treasuries or agencies and have in fact continued to buy those securities, sources said.
But unless the U.S. calms its criticism, Chinese officials plan to tell Snow during an expected
visit this year they may reconsider their purchases of Treasuries and the debt sold by the two
biggest U.S. mortgage financing agencies, Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM - News) and Freddie Mac
(NYSE:FRE - News), market sources quoted the report as saying.
Those steady purchases from China and other Asian countries have helped bolster the dollar and
keep a lid on long-term U.S. interest rates.
Medley declined to comment on any reports issued to clients.
"We do not publicly comment on our reports. We have been covering the topics of Asian
interest in Treasuries. Yesterday's rumors seem like a hotchpotch of different stories, combined
with violent market action," said Sassan Ghahramani, senior managing director, Medley Global
Advisors in New York.
China, Japan and other Asian countries are all big buyers of Treasuries and agencies as a way of
keeping their currencies weak to the dollar, thereby boosting exports. The countries often
funnel dollars coming in from their trade surpluses back into Treasuries and agency debt.
Through May, Japan and China were the two largest holders of U.S. Treasuries, with $428.6
billion and $121.7 billion respectively, according to Treasury data.
Total Treasuries and agencies owned by foreign central banks stand at a staggering $935 billion,
and most of those belong to Asian central banks.
Any slowdown in those purchases or even outright selling would almost certainly drive up
long-term U.S. interest rates, hurt the dollar and increase borrowing costs of Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac, not to mention the U.S. government.
Snow's recent repeated calls for China to revalue the trading band of the yuan has been widely
seen as a political move as the Bush administration attempts to calm the ire of struggling U.S.
manufacturers heading into next year's presidential election. In late July Snow brought up the
yuan revaluation at a manufacturing plant in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Despite the pressure, China is believed to have little desire to widen the yuan's trading band and
let it strengthen against the dollar.
China has pegged its exchange rate at 8.28 to the dollar since 1998 and this has made Chinese
exports cheaper than their foreign counterparts.
Most currency traders are skeptical of the Medley report's hints that Chinese buying of U.S.
fixed income might cool.
One New York-based currency trader, who asked not to be named, said it is not in the interest
of China to change policy at this stage.
Another New York-based trader said the massive current account surpluses of Japan and China
leave them few options other than to recycle their excess dollars into Treasuries.
Moreover, the latest Federal Reserve numbers on custody holdings for the week to August 6
suggested the Chinese were not as yet big sellers. Data show that foreign central banks bought
U.S. assets for the first week in four weeks, purchasing $6.2 billion of Treasuries.
This is a marked turnaround from the previous three weeks where European central banks
seemed aggressive sellers of U.S. assets, and appears driven by Asian central banks intervening
in order to weaken their currencies against the dollar. (Additional reporting by John Parry in
New York)
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