China's yuan firmed against the dollar on Wednesday after the central bank set the daily guidance rate at a one-week high, but some dollar purchases due to clients' profit-taking helped to cap the gains, traders said. The People's Bank of China (PBoC) set the midpoint rate at 6.1176 per dollar prior to market open, 0.08 percent firmer than the previous fix at 6.1225.
The spot market opened at 6.1937 per dollar and touched an intraday high of 6.1936 per dollar during early morning trade. But the yuan surrendered the gains by midday to change hands at 6.1969 per dollar, up 0.02 percent from the previous close. The offshore yuan was trading -0.05 percent away from the onshore spot at 6.2001 per dollar. Offshore one-year non-deliverable forwards contracts (NDFs), considered the best available proxy for forward-looking market expectations of the yuan's value, traded at 6.2435, -2.02 percent away from the midpoint.