China's yuan closed up on Friday after the central bank set an unexpectedly strong official midpoint, following on from an overnight slip in the dollar, to signal its intention to let the Chinese currency appreciate further in the near term. Spot yuan closed at 6.1419 against the dollar, up an unusual 0.12 percent from 6.1492 at Thursday's close.
The People's Bank of China set the yuan's midpoint at 6.1997, up 0.16 percent from 6.2096 on Thursday. Traders said it was rare for the central bank to let its base rate, from which the yuan can rise or fall 1 percent in a day, rise about 100 pips from the previous day.