China Sets Yuan Fixing Stronger Than Expected, Soothing Nerves

The yuan steadied on Thursday after China’s central bank set the daily fixing stronger than analysts expected, providing some reassurance to traders rattled by a tumultuous week in markets.

The currency rose as much as 0.3% after the People’s Bank of China set its daily reference rate at 7.0039 per dollar. While that was the first time since 2008 that the fixing was weaker than 7, it tracked earlier moves in the spot rate and was stronger than the 7.0156 average estimate of 21 analysts and traders surveyed by Bloomberg.