China Jan forex reserves rise to $3.088 trln

China's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly more than expected in January as the yuan rallied on hopes for progress in Sino-U.S. trade talks. China's reserves rose by $15.2 billion in January to $3.088 trillion, central bank data showed on Monday. That compared with a rise of $11 billion in December.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected an increase of $9.3 billion to $3.082 trillion. The yuan gained 2.6 percent against the dollar in January on hopes that China and the United States were edging closer to a deal to end their bruising trade war. The greenback has also been pressured by the Federal Reserve's shift to a more cautious outlook on further interest rate hikes.

The value of China's gold reserves rose to $79.319 billion from $76.331 billion at the end of December. (Reporting by China Monitoring Desk and Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill)