China's yuan jumps to 6-month high, breaches key threshold after Sino-US tariff truce

SHANGHAI, May 13 (Reuters) - China's yuan jumped to a six-month high against the dollar on Tuesday, breaching a key threshold, after Beijing and Washington agreed to pause their trade war while the central bank also lent support through its official guidance rate.

The deal inked between U.S. and Chinese officials after weekend talks in Geneva surpassed market expectations, as both sides agreed to drastically unwind most of the tariffs imposed on each other's goods since early April.

The dollar rose broadly on the back of a boost to sentiment as risks of a U.S. recession receded and reduced the need for a near-term rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

The economic dividend of a potentially durable trade deal also propelled the Chinese currency past the key 7.2 per dollar level in both onshore and offshore trades to levels last seen in November. FRX/

"The substantial progress made in U.S.-China trade talk gave markets more than what it needs to cheer," analysts at OCBC Bank said in a note.

"This de-escalation does not equate to a full return to normalcy," they said, noting the trajectory of the bilateral trade tension over the next 90 days and beyond will be dependent on the progress of direct U.S.-China negotiations and how both sides "engage third-party countries and trade blocs through broader consultations coalition-building."

As of 0211 GMT, the onshore yuan CNY=CFXS rose to a high of 7.1855 per dollar, the strongest level since November 11, before trading at 7.1877 as of 0211 GMT, 0.27% higher than the previous late night close.

Its offshore counterpart CNH=D3 followed suit to scale a six-month high of 7.1791 before last changing hands at 7.1804.

Prior to market opening, the People's Bank of China $(PBOC)$ lifted its official midpoint fixing to a level firmer than the psychologically important 7.2 per dollar for the first time in more than a month.

It set the midpoint rate CNY=PBOC, around which the yuan is allowed to trade in a 2% band, at 7.1991 per dollar, its strongest since April 7 and 189 pips firmer than a Reuters' estimate.

(Reporting by Shanghai NewsroomEditing by Shri Navaratnam)