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The Dow Jones industrial average spiked 241.79 points (1.39 percent) to 17,615.17. Mr Foreman said he hasn’t bought or sold stocks in reaction to China’s currency moves, as he still expects the US market to move higher over the longer run.

In currency markets, the euro was steady against the U.S. dollar at $1.1023.

It is also fanning political tensions with the United States and Europe, whose exports could become comparatively costlier.

Those suggestions gained ammunition when the currency slid another 1.6 per cent on Wednesday.

China’s government said the move to weaken the yuan was a result of reforms intended to make its exchange rate more market-oriented.

China’s central bank cut its reference rate by 1.9 percent, triggering the yuan’s steepest one-day loss since the nation unified official and market exchange rates in 1994.

The value of the Chinese yuan has been gradually rising for 10 years. They had unrealistic expectations: The market has since slammed into reverse, falling by a third in less than a month and wiping away $4 trillion in wealth….

A massive explosion shook the northern Chinese city of Tianjin late Wednesday, killing seven and injuring about 50 people, according to state media.

A global oil oversupply since last summer, led by stubbornly strong U.S. shale crude output and record production by Middle East producers, has driven prices down from June 2014 highs above $100 a barrel.

The central bank said the devaluation was due to its official guidance rate, which was down nearly 2 per cent to 6.2298 yuan per dollar – its lowest point in almost three year.

Lawmakers have for years accused Beijing of manipulating its currency, giving an unfair advantage to its exporters, and the Obama administration has consistently called the yuan “significantly undervalued”.

The political backlash on currency is concentrated in states reliant on automobile manufacturing, steel production and other heavy industry.

China’s yuan hit a four-year low on Wednesday, falling for a second day after authorities devalued it on Tuesday.

Now, China has done a U-turn.

In recent weeks, Beijing has rolled out an unprecedented series of support measures to prevent a full-blown market crash, including cajoling Chinese brokerages and pension funds to buy stocks and cracking down on short-selling.