China's Central Bank Sets Daily Reference Rate for Yuan at 7.0796 per Dollar, Highest Since October 2024
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) set the daily reference rate for the yuan (renminbi) at 7.0796 per dollar on Wednesday, its highest level since October 2024. This decision follows a 0.34% increase in the offshore yuan on Tuesday, which briefly reached 7.0794, its highest level since the end of last year. By mid-day Wednesday, local time, the offshore yuan had further strengthened to 7.078. The move comes as markets closely watch the upcoming meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve, scheduled for December 9-10. Stephen Miran, chief economic advisor to President Donald Trump and a governor on the FOMC, indicated on Tuesday that the US economy "requires significant interest rate cuts" to quickly achieve a neutral monetary policy. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which calculates market probabilities for the Fed's future interest rate decisions, 84.9% of traders anticipate a quarter-point cut in December.
