Mubasher: China's foreign reserves declined in April below expectations as stronger dollar takes its toll on the Asian nation's euro- and yen-denominated holdings, the Chinese central bank's data showed on Monday.

Foreign reserves dropped by $18 billion to $3.12 trillion in the fourth month of 2018, versus $3.14 trillion in March, registering the lowest level in five months,  the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said.

Analysts had expected China’s international reserves to reach $3.13 trillion in April, Bloomberg News reported.

The drop in the world's second-largest economy's overseas reserves was ascribed to lower performance of non-dollar currencies and falling asset prices, the Administration of Foreign Exchange stated, expecting the figure to stabilise in general.

April decline in China's foreign reserves marks the second monthly shrinkage this year, after registering a 12-month high in February 2018.

The reduction in foreign currency reserves indicates possible outflow pressures amid weakening yuan, despite China’s positive economic outlook.

Yuan fell 0.9% against US dollar in April, after registering highest quarter-on-quarter gains in a decade during the first quarter of 2018.