SHANGHAI: China's yuan was little changed against the dollar on Thursday as the central bank kept its daily guidance rate largely steady, a sign that monetary authorities are keen to keep the currency stable for now, traders said.
"The market is quite balanced today, with no big money flows pushing the yuan in either direction," said a trader at a Chinese commercial bank in Shanghai.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate at 6.1202 per dollar prior to market open, almost unchanged from the previous fix at 6.1198.
Spot market trading opened at 6.2014 per dollar and the yuan was changing hands at 6.2012 at midday, barely moved from 6.2014 at the close of Wednesday.
State-owned banks have come to the market to support the yuan when the currency fell for recent months, traders said.
Their transactions are believed to be often conducted on behalf of the PBOC and thus indicate that the authorities do not want to see the yuan to depreciate for now, they said.
"For instance, we saw dollar sales by state banks again yesterday afternoon, so the yuan is unlikely to fall much in the near term," said a trader at an Asian bank in Shanghai.
The market expects the yuan to continue trading narrowly between 6.18 and 6.22 in the short term.
Offshore yuan was trading 0.06 percent weaker from the onshore spot at 6.2047 per dollar.
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