China's central bank lowers yuan midpoint amid tariffs hike threat from US

China's central bank lowered its official yuan midpoint to 6.7334 per dollar on Monday, the weakest level in 2-1/2 months, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to increase tariffs on Chinese goods. Monday's midpoint was 58 pips, or 0.09 per cent, weaker than the previous fix of 6.7286 and was the softest since Feb.20.

Trump on Sunday increased pressure on China to reach a trade deal by announcing he will hike U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods this week and target hundreds of billions more soon. The move marked a major escalation in trade tensions between the world's two largest economies and a shift in tone from Trump, who cited progress in talks as recently as Friday. 

(With inputs from agencies.)