Hong Kong Dollar Gone Wild: A 0.6% Move Shocks a Sleepy Market
- Exchange rate’s sudden gain is the biggest since 2003
- ‘The strengthening came as a huge surprise,’ one trader says
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In a year of currency surprises from Turkey to Argentina, add another shocker to the list: a 0.6 percent rise in Hong Kong’s dollar.
The former British colony’s sleepy foreign-exchange market suddenly came to life on Friday, propelling the local dollar to its biggest gain in 15 years. In a city that keeps its currency on one of the world’s tightest leashes, swings greater than 0.4 percent have only happened three times since Hong Kong widened its trading band in 2005.