SHANGHAI, Mar 18: China’s yuan firmed sharply against the dollar in early trade on Friday after the central bank fixed a stronger midpoint to reflect the dollar’s weakness in global markets, traders said. The People’s Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.4628 per dollar prior to market open, 0.5 percent stronger than the previous fix 6.4961. It was the official fixing’s biggest daily rise since November 2015. The yuan opened at 6.4615 per dollar, up sharply from Thursday’s close of 6.4755. It moved in a range of 6.4559 to 6.4747 in early trade, trading at its strongest level since late 2015. The dollar index against a group of major global currencies led by the euro tumbled 1.2 percent overnight and continued its weakening in early Asian trade on Friday to hit its weakest level since October last year after the U.S. Federal Reserve adopted a more dovish outlook for future U.S. interest rate hikes. The Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday and cut its expectations for rate raises in 2016 to two from four. (AGENCIES)
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