SHANGHAI: China's yuan rose against the dollar on Monday as stronger-than-expected export data added to evidence that the economy may have avoided a sharp slowdown, traders said.
Spot yuan changed hands at 6.1170 per dollar near midday, up 0.06 percent from Friday's close of 6.1205.
China's exports rose 7.2 percent in August from a year earlier and imports rose 7.0 percent, leaving the country with a trade surplus of $28.6 billion for the month, data showed on Sunday.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set its daily official midpoint at 6.1642 versus the dollar on Monday, or 0.14 percent stronger than Friday's 6.1728, but traders said a day's stronger midpoint did not point to a firm signal from the central bank to guide the yuan to appreciate.
"August data is a good explanation for continuous dollar sales on the yuan market recently," said a dealer at a European bank in Shanghai.
"While the yuan's appreciation remains a question due to pressure from the recent depreciation of other Asian currencies, the PBOC's attitude towards the value of the yuan will be crucial."
If the central bank sets stronger yuan midpoints for several days in a row, the currency will easily breach the psychologically important level of 6.11 versus dollar as well as its historical record high of 6.109 set on Aug 16, traders said.
The yuan has gained 1.86 percent so far this year, bucking the weakening trend of other emerging market currencies. However, the bulk of the yuan's gains were in April and May.
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