The Chinese yuan firmed against the U.S. dollar in the Asian session on Wednesday, as traders focus on the annual “U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue” in Beijing.
At the two-day conference, the United States, led by Secretary of State John Kerry and Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, pushed China to liberalize the yuan exchange rate, complaining that China’s currency is undervalued. The leaders will discuss on economic issues and North Korea’s nuclear programme, and also resolve maritime disputes with China and other countries.
In economic news, Consumer prices in China were up 2.3 percent on year in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said.
That was shy of forecasts for 2.4 percent, and it was down from 2.5 percent in May.
The yuan climbed to 6.1956 against the greenback, its highest since June 17. If the yuan rises further, 6.18 is seen as its possible next resistance level. At Tuesday’s close, the pair was worth 6.2015.
The People’s Bank of China set today’s daily reference rate for the yuan at 6.1565 per dollar, compared to yesterday’s reference rate of 6.1626.The People’s Bank of China sets the daily reference rate every morning and allows the currency to move upto 2 percent from that level.