China's market rout was sparked by confusion over its currency devaluation
China weakened the value of its yuan currency by 0.51% to 6.5646 against the US dollar on Thursday, figures from the China Foreign Exchange Trade System showed.
Here's the chart, courtesy of Bloomberg:
Confusion over the devaluation helped send markets in the country tumbling, and led to the triggering of the Chinese market's "circuit breaker" for the second time in just four days of trading.
A Bloomberg report on the chaos has a telling quote:
"China isn't communicating its policy intentions in a clear manner," said Sue Trinh, head of Asia foreign-exchange strategy at Royal Bank of Canada in Hong Kong. "It's disappointing that their communication policy is less than transparent."
Thursday's devaluation is the biggest drop in the yuan since August when Beijing guided the unit down by nearly 5% in a week. That surprise devaluation sparked market chaos and "Black Monday."
Shares tanked as much as 7% on Thursday in just 15 minutes from the opening. This then sparked a market rout across Asia, sending shares to three-month lows.