China's yuan was little changed on Thursday, despite a weaker central bank midpoint fixing, reflecting a steep rebound in the greenback, traders said. "The yuan factored in the dollar's global performance yesterday evening, and that has offset a sharp weakening in the midpoint," said a trader at a Chinese commercial bank in Shanghai.
The People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.6444 per dollar prior to market open, weaker than the previous fix 6.6195. As the official guidance rate is published once a day, it is unable to reflect the dollar's performance late in the day.
Spot yuan opened at 6.6380 per dollar and was changing hands at 6.6373 at midday, 8 pips away from the previous late session close. The offshore yuan was trading -0.05 percent away from the onshore spot at 6.6409 per dollar. The market launched an evening session early this year that will last until 11:30 pm (1530 GMT) to cope with changes in the dollar's value in global markets.