Yuan posts biggest weekly gain since April

    THE yuan firmed for a fourth straight day Friday, posting its biggest weekly gain since April.

    The yuan last Monday breached a key psychological level of 6.7 per dollar for the first time in more than 5-1/2 years. For the week, the yuan rose 0.3 percent. Markets have been less jumpy about the yuan’s latest descent, as fears of a hard landing for the Chinese economy ease and as the People’s Bank of China’s new method for setting its daily yuan price fixings becomes somewhat more predictable.

    CITIC sees net profit down by 40-50%

    CHINA’S conglomerate CITIC Ltd. expects its net profit to roughly halve in the first half of the year due to lower property sales, a sluggish stock market and a depreciation of the yuan currency.

    In another sign of China’s slowing economy, CITIC’s net profit is expected to fall by about 40-50 percent in the six months ended June, it said Friday. CITIC recorded a six-month net profit of HK$37.7 billion (US$4.86 billion) a year earlier.

    Samsung to buy US$450m stake in BYD

    SAMSUNG Electronics will pay 3 billion yuan (US$450 million) for a stake in Shenzhen-based automaker and rechargeable batteries firm BYD Co., Hong Kong and Shenzhen-listed BYD said Friday.

    The Samsung investment has been made through Samsung’s Chinese subsidiary Shanghai Samsung Semiconductor and gives Samsung a 1.92 percent stake in BYD, making it the ninth-largest investor in the company. Samsung said two weeks ago it was in talks to acquire a stake in BYD to boost its automotive chip business. A total of six investors bought BYD shares in the private placement.

    Syngenta sees ChemChina deal done this year

    SYNGENTA, the world’s largest pesticides maker being taken over by China’s State-owned firm ChemChina, still expects the deal to close this year despite concerns that U.S. regulators could throw a spanner in the works, it said Friday.

    The Swiss company’s shares slipped after it reported a worse-than-expected drop in first-half profit on Friday, adding to a heavy discount with ChemChina’s agreed offer price. “We are having constructive discussions with all regulatory authorities which reinforce our confidence in closing the transaction by the end of the year,” new chief executive Erik Fyrwald said.