The Hong Kong dollar had its worst one-day fall in more than a decade yesterday as investors speculated that it might have to adjust its long-running peg to the US dollar.
It slipped 0.25 per cent against its US counterpart to HK$7.7886, a rate last reached in 2011 but still within its permitted range of HK$7.75 to HK$7.85. It was the currency’s biggest one-day slide since October 2003.
The fall was another sign of the renminbi’s volatility spilling over into other markets. Last week bets that the Chinese currency would weaken more sharply than expected pushed the offshore rate to its weakest against the dollar in more than five years.