The Chinese yuan held firm against the rise of the dollar, Thursday, after the People's Bank of China set its reference rate at the strongest level in three and a half years, while stocks in China and Hong Kong fell under pressure from the US Federal Reserve (central bank) raising interest rates and indicating the possibility of further tightening in the coming months.
The yuan rose in the local market by 0.03 percent to 6.7083 against the dollar, after moving between 6.7082 and 6.7128 yuan. In the external market, the yuan rose by about 0.06 percent to 6.7086 per dollar.
This came despite the dollar index rising to 100.33 points, after the Federal Reserve decided to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, the first increase in three years, while adopting a more stringent tone than the markets expected.
Before the market opened, the People's Bank of China set the reference rate at 6.7580 yuan to the dollar, the strongest level since February 3, 2023, but it was 339 points weaker than Reuters estimates.
Kimi Tong, currency strategist at Everbright Securities, believes that the central bank is using an adjustment mechanism to counter excessive volatility and send a clear signal that it prefers currency stability.
The yuan also benefits from companies continuing to transfer foreign currency earnings. Tim Sun, senior researcher at Hash Key Group, said that the increasing trend of corporate settlement in foreign currencies since the beginning of the year still exists, and that its strength is currently sufficient to compensate for the external pressures resulting from the rise of the dollar and the interest rate differential.
The yuan has risen 4.2 percent since the beginning of the year, remaining close to its highest levels in years around 6.70 to the dollar, benefiting from the strength of exports and the weakness of the US currency during previous periods.
But Kevin Liu, a strategist at CICC Financial Consulting, expects the pace of the yuan's appreciation to remain moderate during the year in light of weak domestic demand.
In the stock market, the impact of the Fed’s decision was more clear. The CSI 300 index of leading stocks and the Shanghai Composite Index both fell 0.4 percent by the mid-session break, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 0.8 percent.
Interest-sensitive sectors were under the greatest pressure, as shares of Chinese gold companies fell 5 percent, and non-ferrous metals fell 3 percent. In Hong Kong, shares of real estate companies fell 1.9 percent.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority raised the base interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.25 percent, following the Federal Reserve’s decision, in the first increase since July 2023.
In contrast, biotechnology and semiconductor stocks outperformed the market in China and Hong Kong. Analysts believe that local Chinese stocks may enjoy an advantage compared to Hong Kong during the rest of the year, given its greater exposure to artificial intelligence equipment and its supply chains.
Thus, the yuan showed the ability to resist the dollar’s rise thanks to the stabilization of the central bank and exporter flows, while stocks remained more affected by the change in the direction of global interest rates. Especially in sectors sensitive to financing costs.
The country's underlying economic growth appears to have been slightly stronger than previously estimated, Britain's statistics agency said on Thursday, based on a new methodology for measuring productivity.
The Office for National Statistics said that an empirical approach to estimating changes in productivity showed that output growth per hour worked averaged 1.3 percent annually between 1997 and 2024, according to Reuters.
This compares to a growth of 1.1 percent under the office's current approach, according to the authority.
According to the new methodology, output per hour of work was estimated to be approximately 41 percent higher than in 1997, compared to 34 percent according to the current methodology.
The new methodology, which will replace Britain's current labor productivity statistics, uses IRS data on the number of workers on the payroll, along with the Office for National Statistics' main labor force survey, which has suffered from low levels of response since the Covid-19 pandemic.
The new approach also includes a jobs survey that the ONS sends to employers, among other inputs.
Successive British governments have pledged to increase productivity to accelerate economic growth, improve living standards, and relieve some pressures on public finances.
Last month, the Resolution Foundation, a research firm, said that its measure of productivity showed that annual growth in output per hour worked averaged 1.1 percent during the two years ending at the end of June 2026, compared to an annual decline of 0.7 percent during the previous two years.
Cleodna Taylor, head of productivity statistics at the Office for National Statistics, said Thursday's estimates halved the extent of the productivity slowdown in Britain.
Taylor added in a blog post that the “productivity puzzle” still exists, albeit to a less clear degree than before, as these data still indicate a fundamental shift in the British economy following the financial crisis in 2007-2008.
The total quantities of shipping issued and received through Saudi ports exceeded 341 million tons during the year 2025, with both exports and imports increasing compared to the previous year, according to data from the “Maritime Transport Statistics 2025” bulletin issued by the General Authority for Statistics.
The amount of exported shipping reached 227.2 million tons during the year, an increase of 2.1 percent compared to 222.5 million tons in 2024, while the amount of incoming shipping reached 114.3 million tons, an increase of 5 percent on an annual basis, compared to 108.9 million tons in the previous year.
King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu topped the ports in terms of exports, accounting for 50.7 percent of total exports, with a quantity of 115.2 million tons. On the other hand, King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam came at the top of the ports receiving incoming shipments, with a total of 39.2 million tons, representing about 34.3 percent of total imports.
Container and cargo handling
The total number of containers exported and imported through the Kingdom’s ports recorded about 3.89 million containers during 2025, an increase of 52.9 percent compared to 2024, distributed between 1.940 million export containers and 1.954 million import containers.
The total goods handled in Saudi ports amounted to more than 298 million tons during the year, and King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu accounted for the largest share in terms of weight of goods handled, at 33 percent.
Jeddah Islamic Port topped the list of ports in terms of handling standard containers, with a share of 47.3 percent, while liquid bulk goods came at the forefront of the types of goods handled, with a total exceeding 144 million tons.
The total quantities of transshipment goods in the Kingdom's ports reached more than 97 million tons during 2025, distributed between about 13.1 million tons of unloaded goods and 84.1 million tons of loaded goods. The number of standard containers in circulation within transshipment operations, whether unloaded or loaded, exceeded two million standard containers.
7848 ships in port
The total number of ships arriving at the Kingdom’s ports reached 7,848 ships during 2025, led by Jeddah Islamic Port with 2,677 ships, followed by Jubail Commercial Port with 1,256 ships, then King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam with 1,030 ships, and NEOM Port with 828 ships.
Regarding unloaded and loaded goods, their total weight reached more than 210.6 million tons during 2025, a 37 percent decrease compared to 2024. The total was distributed between 99.3 million tons of unloaded goods and 111.3 million tons of loaded goods.
King Fahd Industrial Port in Jubail topped the list of ports in terms of the total weight of unloaded and loaded goods with a share of 30 percent, followed by Jeddah Islamic Port with 25.5 percent, then King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam with 24.4 percent. Jubail Commercial Port recorded 5.9 percent, King Abdullah Port 5.5 percent, and Ras Al-Khair Port 4.7 percent, while the remaining 4.1 percent was distributed among the rest of the ports.
1.1 million passengers
Statistics showed that the number of passengers arriving and departing through the Kingdom’s ports reached about 1.1 million passengers during 2025, an increase of 20.1 percent compared to 2024.
Jazan Port topped the list of ports in terms of the number of arriving and departing passengers, with more than 489.6 thousand passengers, followed by Jeddah Islamic Port with about 413.8 thousand passengers, then NEOM Port with more than 187 thousand passengers.
The total number of cruise passengers reached about 174.5 thousand passengers during the year.
