The yuan hit a record against the dollar on Thursday as the People's Bank of China set the mid-point at a new peak after the dollar index's pullback, which could give the central bank a chance to raise the yuan further. Spot yuan finished off the day's highs at 6.4915 versus the dollar compared with Wednesday's 6.4934.
The Chinese currency has now appreciated 5.16 percent since it was depegged from the dollar in June 2010, and 1.50 percent since the start of this year. Offshore, one-year non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) were little changed, even though the Chinese central bank set a record high mid-point. One-year NDFs were bid at 6.3760, little changed from 6.3790 at Wednesday's close. Their implied yuan appreciation in a year's time was 1.82 percent versus 1.77 percent previously.