Onshore yuan (CNY) closed at 6.7674 per USD at 16:30 on July 27, strengthening 70 pips from the previous session.

ING analyst Francesco Pesole said the Bank of England is likely to hold rates on Thursday; market attention is on whether the MPC's hawkish faction has expanded. He added that if inflation expectations remain contained, ING expects the BoE to keep policy unchanged for the rest of the year. Markets, by contrast, have priced about 37bp of tightening by year-end — the clearest near-term downside risk for sterling versus the euro.

Hong Kong-listed auto stocks rose in afternoon trade: Xiaomi Group (01810.HK) gained nearly 8.5%, Chery Automobile (09973.HK) rose over 2%; GAC Group (02238.HK), Leapmotor (09863.HK), BYD Co. (01211.HK) and Great Wall Motor (02333.HK) also advanced.