Spot yuan changed hands at 6.3609 per dollar at midday on Wednesday, 23 pips weaker than the rate late on Tuesday or a decline of 0.04 percent.
The modest decline fell short of the corresponding rise of the dollar index, which tracks the US currency's value against a basket of currencies heavily weighted towards the euro. The index fell about 0.4 percent overnight.
But the yuan's fall was less than the corresponding fall in the central bank's midpoint, which it set at 6.3482, 39 pips weaker than Tuesday's fix.
Absent major shocks from abroad, traders see the yuan fluctuating in the 6.35-6.37 range over the next few weeks.
"With European leaders on vacation this month, the euro is churning in a narrow range, there won't be a major movement until they come back," said a trader at a joint-stock bank in Shanghai.