China's yuan jumped to its highest in three weeks against the dollar on Thursday, breaching a key threshold, after a much stronger official fixing and a tumble for the greenback globally. The yuan breached 6.6 to the dollar for the first time since November 2. The dollar was pressured by weak US data and minutes from the Federal Reserve's October 31 - November 1 policy meeting, which showed concerns over low inflation. The global dollar index, measuring its strength against six other major currencies, fell to 93.185 as of midday, the weakest level in a month.
Prior to market opening on Thursday, the People's Bank of China set its official yuan midpoint at the strongest level since October 18, at 6.6021 per dollar. It was the biggest one-day strengthening in percentage terms since October 11. The official midpoint was 269 pips or 0.41 percent firmer than Wednesday's fix of 6.6290 per dollar.
The strong fixing helped spot yuan breach the key 6.6 per dollar level in early trade. The onshore yuan opened at 6.6018 and was changing hands at 6.5935 at midday, 207 pips firmer than the previous late session close and 0.13 percent firmer than the midpoint.