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Traders said both banks and their clients expect the yuan to move narrowly in the near term and were willing to do business at current levels.
News that growth in China's giant manufacturing sector accelerated to a two-year high in January had no impact on trade, traders said.
Instead, market players and regulators at the People's Bank of China (PBOC) are focused on following trends in the dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of currencies dominated by the euro, they said.
Spot yuan closed at 6.2181 per dollar, 1 pip weaker than Wednesday's close of 6.2180. Trading volumes rose to a heavy $20.29 billion, up from Wednesday's $17.72 billion.