Sydney — Stocks across Asia advanced on Monday as China’s efforts to stop sharp declines in its currency and capital flight supported wider sentiment in the region, although the escalating US-China trade conflict has capped gains. Late on Friday, the People’s Bank of China raised the reserve requirement on some foreign exchange forward positions, making it more expensive to bet against the Chinese currency and helping pull the yuan away from 14-month lows. The move boosted the Australian dollar, which is often played as a liquid proxy for the yuan. The Aussie came off two-week lows to climb as high as $0.7412 after the announcement, and was last at $0.7403. "Leaning against bearish yuan sentiment is important because a rapidly weakening currency risks triggering residential outflows and destabilising domestic asset prices," JPMorgan analysts said in a note. "Our economists think the PBOC will probably take further action if yuan depreciation continues or capital outflow pressure inc...
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