China's yuan ended up near its record trading high versus the dollar on Wednesday after the People's Bank of China set the mid-point at a new peak again but up only slightly from Tuesday's fixing, traders said. The PBOC recently fixed a slew of record high mid-points, a signal it may let the Chinese currency's fortunes decouple from political events.
Spot yuan closed at 6.5819 against the dollar compared with 6.5827 at Tuesday's close. It has now risen 3.72 percent to the dollar since its mid-June depegging. It touched an intraday low of 6.5847 and a high of 6.5814, just shy of 6.5808 hit on Monday - its highest intraday trading level since China let the yuan be publicly trade in 1994.
Offshore, benchmark one-year dollar/yuan non-deliverable forwards were bid at 6.4470 late on Wednesday, down from 6.4530 at Tuesday's close. Their implied yuan appreciation in a year's time rose to 2.19 percent from 2.09 percent. Dollar/yuan offshore forwards have generally staged a lacklustre performance in recent weeks, partly because signs of a US economic recovery pushed hedged funds to reallocate their assets, traders said. Before trading started on Tuesday, the PBOC fixed the yuan's daily mid-point versus the dollar at 6.5878, slightly firmer than Tuesday's 6.5881. The currency can rise or fall 0.5 percent from the PBOC's fixing in a given day.