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source from：WSJ
MARKETS CURRENCIES FOREIGN EXCHANGE
China Fixes Yuan at More Than Five-Year Low Against Dollar
Central bank sets the yuan daily reference rate at 6.5784, the weakest level since February 2011
By GREGOR STUART HUNTER
May 30, 2016 1:14 a.m. ET
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China’s central bank set the daily yuan-fixing at its weakest level against the dollar in more than five years on Monday, after hawkish comments from Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen boosted the strength of the U.S. currency.
The People’s Bank of China set its daily reference rate for the yuan at 6.5784, the weakest level since February 2011 and 0.45% lower than Friday’s fixing point. Onshore, the yuan is allowed to trade 2% above and below the so-called fix.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the dollar’s strength against a basket of six currencies, rose 0.4% to 95.888 in early Asian trading. The move follows Ms. Yellen’s comments late Friday that it would be “appropriate” for the Fed to “gradually and cautiously” increase interest rates in the coming months.
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The yuan fix has seesawed over the past week in response to the dollar’s intermittent strength, with a previous five-year low set on Wednesday.
In theory, the fix serves as a reference point for the yuan by reflecting market developments. But currency traders said the yuan has been moving of its own accord even though the fix has been weakening recently.
After the fix Monday, the yuan held steady in the onshore market, strengthening 0.04% to 6.5633 against the dollar. In Hong Kong, where the currency trades freely around the clock, the currency fell 0.2% to 6.5868.
The onshore yuan has weakened 6% against the dollar since August, when a shift to a market-determined exchange rate and a devaluation prompted months of volatility in the yuan and worries of capital flight from mainland China. Before then, the rate was entirely determined by the central bank.
Currencies usually rise and fall based on market forces. China's government said it would loosen its hold on the yuan last August, instead of its traditional policy of setting the currency's value. It hasn't worked out so well. Photo Illustration: Andrea Liang/The Wall Street Journal
Over the past week, weaker fixes have been accompanied by a stronger yuan, analysts said.
Michael Every, head of financial markets research for Asia-Pacific at Rabobank, said that recent buying of the yuan in the mainland has kept its value surprisingly stable despite a series of weaker fixes.
“That’s not how a rational, freely-traded currency would react,” he said, adding that the offshore yuan better reflects the kind of reaction “you would expect to see.”
The 6.60 level against the dollar may represent a psychological threshold that, if breached, might encourage further conversion into other currencies by Chinese individuals and companies, Mr. Every said.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that since January the PBOC has quietly retreated from the more market-orientated exchange rate and resumed adjusting the yuan’s daily value higher or lower based on whatever suits Beijing best.
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