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A cheaper yuan is expected to aid exports for the world’s second-largest economy but also underlined concerns about the current status of the Chinese economy.

“Only the “national team”… would be able to turn the tide like this”, said Yingda Securities analyst Li Daxiao, referring to entities acting for the government.

U.S. stocks closed lower after a choppy session Tuesday as investors digested a mixed bag of quarterly results and an upbeat report on home construction in July. The consensus was for $4.77 per share.

But CPI was held back by the ongoing supermarket price war, with a 2.7% year-on-year fall in the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages. Shops such as Next and Clarks always cut prices in July, but this year the fall was smaller than in 2014.

Core inflation in July, stripping out volatile energy, food and tobacco prices, rose to 1.2% – its highest rate since February.

And now the People’s Bank of China has joined the parade. However, the stronger dollar over the past year constitutes a headwind for net exports and a drag on growth.

Members of the Fed will see the release of the Consumer Price Index report for August, due September 16, on the morning of the start of their next monetary policy meeting.

Apple (Swiss: AAPL.SW – news), for whom China is a key market, fell 0.5 percent to 116.60 and was the biggest drag on the Nasdaq and the S&P 500.

S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 were down 5 points, or 0.24 percent, with 122,128 contracts traded. Germany’s DAX Index slipped 0.2 percent, France’s CAC 40 Index slid 0.3 percent, while the UK’s FTSE 100 Index fell 0.4 percent. Morgan Stanley said the company’s...

On its part, China has increased its presence on the continent funding major infrastructure projects in a number of Sub-Saharan Africa countries as it sort to gain a upper hand in deals that involve raw material for its fast growing industries back home.

“A name like Wal-Mart today is part of what keeps the market kind of range bound, there are just too many companies with global businesses that are not really firing on all cylinders and then you throw in moves in China”.

In euro terms, gold is holding its own at above €1,000 per troy ounce. The rand is expected to come under more pressure from inflation and retail figures for July due on Wednesday. In addition, auto sales have remained healthy, as has the housing sector.

China’s decision on Tuesday to allow markets greater sway in setting the currency’s level triggered the biggest sell-off in 21 years and roiled global markets. The Chinese authorities assured everyone that this is a one-time step. The peso closed at 46.215 to the U.S....

In an effort to calm volatile markets, the PBOC said late last week it sees no reason for the yuan to fall further. Commonwealth Bank currency strategist Richard Grace said the Australian dollar will come under pressure from the lower yuan, as well as from factors such as lower...

The promise, which analysts said was designed to soothe investors’ frazzled nerves, came after the central bank’s shock devaluation of the yuan last week plunged global financial markets into turmoil.