Japan’s central bank surprised markets with its bond yield tweak which boosted the yen and cooled the red-hot US dollar’s charge

The Japanese yen hit a four-month high, while the Nikkei share index fell 2.5% after the Bank of Japan shocked markets on Tuesday by lifting the cap on bond yield controls.

Chinese are concerned over the uncertain economic outlook with Covid surging and Xi Jinping's "common prosperity" drive to cut income inequality, asset managers say

Stocks in China suffered their biggest fall in seven weeks, while Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney and most of Southeast Asia also declined. Indian markets, however, enjoyed a small rise.

The system has already been used by Russia following the imposition of sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine war

Xi wants China and Russia to transact more deals in rubles and yuan to insulate the two against future Western sanctions

The system is ready to be tested after exporters had an importers have opened new bank accounts to enable rupee trade.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman hosted two Arab summits with the Chinese leader, but any move by Saudi Arabia to ditch the dollar in its oil trade would be a seismic political move

Emerging market currencies have outperformed their developed market counterparts this year and analysts say signs point to a broader turn in dollar sentiment

China's currency rose to its strongest level in two months – to below 7 per dollar – on Monday, on expectations the US Fed will cut its interest rate hikes, while Beijing eases its zero-Covid policy

Yuan-rouble trading totalled 185 billion yuan in October, more than 80 times the level seen in February before Moscow invaded Ukraine

Health officials were due to hold a news conference on Tuesday to discuss Covid curbs, spurring hope that restrictions may be eased