Vs Parity Pvs
USD/CNY Central Parity 6.3549 6.3628
USD/CNY OTC 0830 GMT 6.3754 +0.32% 6.3840
High 6.3791 +0.38%
Low 6.3673 +0.20%

China's yuan rose against the U.S. dollar late Monday as the central bank guided the local unit higher via its daily reference exchange rate for a second straight session, in line with the dollar's fall against other major currencies over the weekend.

Dealers said that a steady offer to sell dollars at the CNY6.3740 level on a little-used anonymous trading platform, similar to last Friday, was taken by the market as the People's Bank Of China signaling the appropriate trading level for the session.

"We saw steady sell orders at CNY6.3740 on the price-matching system today. The PBOC is probably seeking to cap gains for the dollar again. Otherwise, the yuan would have hit the lower end of the daily trading band," a Shanghai-based trader at a local bank said.

The lower end of the permitted range for the yuan Monday was CNY6.3867, the 0.5% downside limit from the central parity rate of CNY6.3549 set for the day, compared with Friday's CNY6.3628.

In the over-the-counter market, the dollar was at CNY6.3754 at around 0830 GMT, up from CNY6.3840 late Friday. It traded at CNY6.3673 to CNY6.3791 for the session.

The yuan is now up 3.4% against the U.S. unit so far this year and 7.1% since June 2010, when China ended its currency's peg to the dollar.
Traders said demand for dollars from companies continues to be strong as the onshore spot rate is still below the offshore rate by a large margin.
Offshore, the yuan has fallen against the dollar in recent sessions on risk aversion amid fears over the euro-zone sovereign debt crisis. The dollar/yuan exchange rate in Hong Kong rose as high as 6.4420 last week, compared with a high of 6.3935 onshore.

The yuan rose against the dollar in both the non-deliverable forward contracts and the spot market Monday as risk appetite returned on improved prospects for a euro-zone bailout plan to be finalized Wednesday. One-year dollar-yuan non-deliverable forward contracts fell to 6.4000/6.4070 from 6.4140/6.4220 late Friday, implying a 0.3% depreciation of the yuan against the U.S. currency over the next year.

In the offshore yuan market in Hong Kong, where the Chinese currency floats freely, the dollar-yuan exchange rate was at 6.4095 late Monday, down from 6.4285 late Friday.