- The US dollar index weakened about 1.3% on Friday as rumors about a China reopening circulated.
- In 2022, the US Dollar Index has climbed roughly 16% as the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy.
The US Dollar Index shed more than 1.3% Friday amid about a potential easing of China's zero-COVID rules. The dip marked its steepest slide since March 2020, according to Bloomberg.
At a Friday conference hosted by Citigroup, Zeng Guang, former chief scientist at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said disease policies will see significant changes, per the Wall Street Journal.
Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong and the US surged, while the yuan rose 1.6% against the dollar to 7.185.
So far in 2022, the dollar has climbed more than 16%, fueled by the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes.
Meanwhile, China has maintained a comparatively accommodative monetary policy, even as downside pressure on the yuan grows.
On Thursday, the yuan slid to 7.3166 per dollar, near a 15-year low that it hit on Tuesday. In 2022, the yuan has lost about 16%, and yuan-denominated assets have seen massive outflows.
The governor of the People's Bank of China, however, maintained that the currency will remain "basically stable" and balanced.