The yuan hit an all-time high against the dollar on Wednesday in what traders said was a goodwill gesture by China's central bank towards US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who is in Beijing for strategic discussions. The People's Bank of China guided the yuan higher through a stronger official midpoint rate, despite the fact that the dollar index was also rallying in global markets.
Spot yuan touched 6.2113 per dollar late in the session, its highest intraday level since China set up the domestic foreign exchange market in 1994 and toppling the former record high of 6.2124 set on January 14 this year. The currency trimmed some gains in the last few minutes of trading to end at 6.2118, its highest closing level ever and up 0.06 percent from Tuesday's close of 6.2157. Volume was moderate at $10.4 billion, down from Tuesday's $13.52 billion.