China devalues yuan after poor economic data

By Pete Sweeney and Lu Jianxin SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China devalued its currency on Tuesday after a run of poor economic data, a move it billed as a free-market reform but which some suspect could be the beginning of a longer-term slide in the exchange rate. The central bank set its official guidance rate down nearly 2 percent to 6.2298 yuan per dollar - its lowest point in almost three years - in what it said was a change in methodology to make it more responsive to market forces. It was the big