China's yuan ended slightly weaker after hitting an intraday record high against the dollar on Wednesday in the wake of a strong mid-point fixing, which underpinned expectations the Chinese currency will rise further in the near term. Spot yuan closed at 6.2946 per dollar after hitting an intraday record high of 6.2919 compared with last Friday's close of 6.2940. It rose 4.7 percent in 2011.
Before trading began, the PBOC fixed the dollar/yuan mid-point at a record high of 6.3001, up slightly from Friday's 6.3009. The market was closed on Monday and Tuesday for the New Year's Holiday. Offshore, benchmark one-year non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) were little changed at 6.3270 late on Wednesday against 6.3290 at the close on Friday, still implying that the yuan would depreciate. They now imply 0.43 percent depreciation over the next year, compared with a 0.46 percent fall implied on Friday.