“What markets don’t like above all is that there is no telling what the Chinese central bank is trying to do on the yuan”, said Teppei Ino, currency analyst at Bank of Mitsubishi-Tokyo UFJ in Singapore. That was the biggest decline between daily fixings since August and the eighth day in row the PBOC had set a lower guidance rate.

The value of its gold reserves stood at US$60.19 billion at the end of December, up from US$59.52 billion at the end of November, PBoC said on its website.

The dollar index .DXY was down almost 1 percent in late trading for its biggest one-day loss in almost a month.

The Chinese yuan weakened against the USA dollar in the Asian session on Wednesday amid worries about China’s economy after the nation’s central bank fixed the yuan at a fresh five-year low against the US dollar.

The Australian dollar, often used by foreign exchange dealers as a liquid proxy for the yuan, fell more than half a US cent. The Korean won, however, recovered nearly all of its initial falls with banks saying the Bank of Korea had probably also intervened to support the currency.

“Why people are panicked is because (i) they didn’t see this coming, and/or (ii) the global economy needs a consumer of last resort, and China is sending a signal that they won’t be it”, he added.

Global shares tumbled for a sixth day on Thursday and oil prices slid to levels not seen since the early 2000s, after China guided the yuan lower and Shanghai shares tumbled by 7 per cent, igniting fears of competitive devaluations across Asia.

According to a statement, China’s central bank placed $20 billion in short-term funds into the China’s financial market in order to help calm nervous investors after Monday’s stock slumped.

Regulators had closed trading early Monday because a seven percent fall triggered a new circuit breaker put in place during the summer to prevent sharp losses or gains. It gained 1.4 percent at $1.0927.

Intesa services big Italian and European exporters, who are among those global investors most exposed to Chinese growth, demand and moves in the yuan.

China’s securities watchdog, the CSRC, confirmed on Tuesday that it was mulling new rules to regulate share sales by major shareholders and senior executives, Reuters added.

Chicago Bulls’ Tony Snell, center, drives between, from left to right, Toronto Rators’ Cory Joseph, Kyle Lowry and Bismack Biyombo during first-half NBA basketball game action in Toronto, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016. He also played all of the second half with stitches in his mouth after being elbowed by DeMarre Carroll in the second quarter.

Jimmy Butler went where no other Chicago Bulls player had been before on Sunday, not even Michael Jordan.

These two teams met just a week ago and it was the Bulls who won by 104-97 behind some balanced scoring which saw three players with 20 points or more, but I’m expecting the Raptors to bounce back at home and get one back against the Bulls in this one, especially if Rose doesn’t play.

Jordan had 39 points, the previous Bulls’ record in a half, against the Milwaukee Bucks in 1989. Portis is averaging 8.4 points and 4.2 rebounds per game this season but it’s not only his offensive game that has seen a lift.

Wilt Chamberlain holds the record for most points scored in one half with 59 points scored on March 2, 1962.

Starting big men Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotić added 17 points each, also combining for 13 rebounds and 11 assists.

The Wizards’ forward Otto Porter scored 20 points and won 11 rebounds, while Kris Humphries scored all of his 11 points in the fourth quarter, including seven during a decisive 15-3 run. Knicks rookie Kristaps Porzingas was kept in check as he shot a pedestrian 4-of-14 from the field for nine points. “It was unbelievable”, teammate Taj Gibson said of Butler. “It’s not that you’re up 20 and suddenly you get hot, you make shots, shoot a low percentage and still score a lot of points”.

“We were just trying to be aggressive, at least try to get to the basket and get a call but we didn’t get”, DeRozan said after a 24-point night. After shooting less than 40 per cent from the field in their past two outings, the Raptors shot 52 per cent in the first half Sunday and took a commanding 60-48 lead into the locker room.

Danilo Gallinari scored 29 points for the Nuggets, who have lost six straight.

The Bulls blew a 17-point lead before pulling away from the Knicks in the final period. The last points scored for NY were free throws from Anthony with 4:35 left in regulation.

It was the fourth double-double of the season for Lowry, who helped Toronto come back from a seven-point deficit entering the fourth quarter and avenge a 109-99 loss in Charlotte last month. Calderon scored 10 points in the quarter to keep NY in contention.

“Relative to budgets of the past, this budget is in good shape”, Brown said.

Gov. Jerry Brown holds a chart as he discusses his proposed 2016-17 budget. What does that extra money help fund?

“It would be shortsighted in the extreme to now embark upon a host of new spending only to see massive cuts when the next recession hits”, he said, pointing out that another recession probably is “not far off”. California gets $1.1 billion in federal matching dollars on that money and then the MCOs are reimbursed through the Medi-Cal services they provide. “We have had discussions with other justice partners on this issue, and those will continue”.

Brown has generally sought to restrain spending, sometimes clashing with fellow Democrats in the state Legislature who have called for expanding social welfare programs.

The total amount of the state budget is $122.6 billion.

CDA President Ken Wallis in a release said that “it’s time for the state to move away from the ineffective dental managed care plan models and develop and test new and sustainably funded dental care programs that provide better access to care” (CDA release, 1/7).

Nonetheless, the budget proposal highlights administration priorities for increased spending.

Last year, Brown proposed $3.47 billion for the courts, a $180 million boost over the previous fiscal year. General funding accounts for $122.6 billion, up by more than $10 billion from the current budget (Young, Sacramento Business Journal, 1/7). “We can not continue to delay the rebuilding of our transportation infrastructure”, continued Cannella. “The growth per student is about $3,600 since I was elected governor”, he said.

Assemblymember Kristin Olsen echoed Cannella’s opinion on the proposed budget’s record spending, and went on to address education reform. It calls for spending more than $2.8 billion for the Local Control Funding Formula, which focuses on students with the greatest challenges to success, bringing the formula to 95 percent implementation.

As Gov. Jerry Brown introduced his latest spending plan Thursday, he took a break from his typical warnings against exuberant legislative spending to put a damper on exuberance at the ballot box. Judges and court clerks recoiled at the idea of having their carefully built reserves stripped away, but the measure passed as part of the 2012-13 budget package over their objections and remains a part of the judiciary’s statewide fiscal policy. The broader managed-care organization (MCO) tax would replace a narrower levy set to expire at the end of June. Less than half of health plans in the state operate Medicaid MCOs. Twelve states have rolled out three-year demonstrations under the Affordable Care Act to improve coordination of health benefits for poor seniors eligible for both programs; without coordination, care can be frequently splintered and high-cost for both the federal and state governments.

He has generally taken a restrained approach to boosting spending, but Brown faces increasing demands to spend more.

$1.8 billion, including $1.7 billion in general funds, to support the Department of State Hospitals (FY 2016-2017 budget plan, January 2016).

Brown’s proposal also would keep tuition flat at University of California and California State University schools. Over the next decade, $36-billion would also be spent on state infrastructure to improve our highways and roads. Brown is allocating $71.6 billion in general fund money for K-12 education and community colleges.

The Department of Developmental Services expects to serve about 300,000 individuals by the end of the next fiscal year.

The budget also provides a cost-of-living increase for aged, blind and disabled Californians in the Supplemental Security Income/State Supplemental Payment (SSI/SSP) program- the first state increase in grant levels since 2006.

The state is entering a possible fifth year of drought, with reservoirs and groundwater supplies “significantly depleted”. Schools are guaranteed about 40 percent of general fund revenues under voter-approved Proposition 98. The current sum proposed for the courts is a $330 million increase.

Contributing reports by Allison Ong, Bruin reporter.

Bengals quarterback AJ McCarron sprained his left wrist on the final play of Cincinnati’s Monday night overtime loss to the Broncos. But, after a week in which Seattle and Pittsburgh lost games that defied common sense, I am not willing to admit I know anything about anyone in the National Football League at this point. The brilliance of the modern National Football League is that the product is so stupidly addictive, so riddled with potentially game-changing injuries, and so replete with confounding parity, that it nearly doesn’t matter who’s playing. “We have a chance on offense and didn’t take care of (the ball) at the end”.

Most of the injured Bengals were present and working in some capacity on Wednesday, including starting quarterback Andy Dalton.

A 39-yard touchdown run by C.J. Anderson with 11:17 left in the fourth quarter gave the Broncos their first lead, 17-14. And yeah, Osweilier may have shown he’s ready to break free from that second-half monkey on his back (his first-half passer rating entering Monday was 109.4, in the second half just 65.6).

When the Broncos picked up the pace on offense in the second half, Daniels noticed the Broncos were clicking on all cylinders – and he capitalized on those opportunities. We’ll see in the coming days.

Regardless of what happens in the AFC West, Cincinnati needs to win on Sunday to position itself for a strong postseason run, McCarron said.

Cincinnati converted 7-of-8 third downs in the first half, a remarkable performance.

-Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict’s reputation is well-earned, but now Burfict believes it’s being used against him.

McCarron hurt his wrist on the last play in overtime, when he tried to recover his fumble after a mishandled a shot-gun snap.

Soon after, Cincinnati linebacker Vontaze Burfict drew an unnecessary roughness penalty when he shoved Virgil Green near the sideline. Instead of the predictable plan one generally associates with Gary Kubiak, the Broncos came out with more no-huddle, mitigating the overall lack of schematic creativity and forcing the Bengals into their base defensive sets. “He’s pushing, (Burfict) is pushing back”. I think the drive right before the half was positive for us, but we talked at halftime.

In 2014, Burfict was fined $25,000 for twisting the ankles of Carolina Panthers’ quarterback Cam Newton.

“We felt like we got some stuff going at the end of the half doing that up-tempo stuff”, Daniels said. The refs, obviously they have it out for me. Monday night’s loss at Denver was the second.

But there were signs that starting safety George Iloka (groin) is going to return after missing the last two games. There, he received help from running back REX BURKHEAD who got in the way of one Bronco defender enough to keep him far away from Sanu, and then Burkhead blocked another Denver defender out of the play. But 119 of those passing yards came in the first half. They did well in the first half with 85 yards on the ground. Jeremy Hill finished with 63 rushing yards on 19 carries.

In three preseason appearances for the Bengals this year, Wenning completed only six of his 13 passes for 44 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception.

According to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, McCarron took the blame for the dropped snap on the game’s final play. With 10:14 left in the third quarter, the Broncos cut Cincinnati’s lead to 14-10. A TD there would have given Cincinnati a 21-17 lead with seven minutes left and forced Denver to score a touchdown to win.

McManus kicked a 23-yard field goal to put the Broncos on the board just before half-time and they cut the deficit to four points less than five minutes after the interval when Brock Osweiler and Emmanuel Sanders combined for their first touchdown.

The Toronto Blue Jays traded for bullpen help on Friday, acquiring Drew Storen from the Washington Nationals in exchange for outfielder Ben Revere and a player to be named later. Washington is also sending cash in the deal to Toronto, with Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reporting the cash will even out the differences in the two salaries.

By July 29 of this past season, Storen recorded 29 saves and a 1.73 ERA as the Nationals’ closer.

Jon Heyman of MLB Network first reported the deal Friday night. The Nationals shopped both Storen and Papelbon this offseason, and they seemed unlikely to coexist in the bullpen next season. He could take over the same role in Toronto or pitch as the right-handed setup man to Roberto Osuna.

Former Nationals scouting director Dana Brown, who drafted Storen with the 10th overall pick of the 2010 draft, now works in the Blue Jays front office. 319 in 56 games and gave the team a much-needed defensive upgrade in left field.

The Nationals have been looking to replace centerfielder Denard Span, who they did not offer a qualifying offer to and who signed with the Giants yesterday. This move allows Michael Saunders to play left field on a regular basis and for the Blue Jays to bring outfield prospect Dalton Pompey along slowly, using him as their fourth outfielder. Revere will replace Taylor as the Nationals lead off hitter, and should score 80-90 runs this season, while hitting.290-.300 and stealing 30+ bases.

James Wagner and Barry Svrluga contributed.

Elsewhere, “25” is the first album released since 2001 to sell more than 300,000 copies in each week of its first six weeks on sale.

Adele made selling A LOT of albums look easy previous year.

No changes were recorded in the Top 3 Albums Chart, as Adele continued her reign into the year 2016, for the sixth consecutive week. That said, there are still a few new entries, the highest of which is Kid Ink’s Summer in the Winter at No. 50 (16,000 units; 11,000 copies sold). That’s the biggest number for an album in a single calendar year since Usher’s Confessions sold 7.98 million copies in 2004. Out of all U.S. album sales past year, 51.1% were physical and 48.9% was digital. However Usher released his album in March compared to Adele who released hers in November!

The first new No. 1 album of 2015 was the debut set for Meghan Trainor called “Title” which debuted at the top in mid-January and rose again to the No. 1 spot for a second and final week on the 10th of August.

Interestingly, it was also one of only three albums to go platinum in 2015, following goal and Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. It hit number one on four occasions and also achieved a record-breaking 67 weeks in the Top 10.

Justin Bieber’s new album objective is spending a third straight week at No. 2, just two months after debuting at No. 1 itself, with 217,000 units.

Meanwhile the top end of the Albums chart is dominated by pop artists with fellow Brit singer Ed Sheeran’s X coming in at #2, Taylor Swift’s 1989 at #3, Justin Bieber’s objective at #4 and Title by Meghan Trainor ranked at #5.