The yuan extended a rally on Monday even though the central bank lowered its mid-point after nine days of stronger fixings in the face of growing US pressure on Beijing to let the currency rise faster. Before trade began on Monday, the People's Bank of China fixed the yuan's daily mid-point versus the dollar at 6.7098, weaker than last Tuesday's 6.6997 despite the dollar index hovering near eight-month lows after the three-day Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.
The Chinese currency rose to 6.6859 during intraday trade, a record high, because of what Chinese bank traders said was session-end dollar selling as the US currency hovered around eight-month lows in the global market. Spot yuan closed at 6.6923 to the dollar from Tuesday's close of 6.7079. The yuan has risen as much as 1.41 percent in 10 trading days.