The yuan strengthened the most this year after the People’s Bank of China raised its reference rate to a level that forced appreciation, the second time it’s done so this week.
The central bank raised the fixing by 0.17 percent to 6.1261 a dollar, which was 2.06 percent stronger than Thursday’s closing spot rate of 6.2521. That’s also the biggest increase since Nov. 10. The onshore exchange rate can deviate from the reference rate by a maximum of 2 percent.
The yuan surged 0.24 percent, the most since Dec. 30, to 6.2372 a dollar as of 9:34 a.m. in Shanghai Friday, China Foreign Exchange Trade System prices show.
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