SHANGHAI - China's yuan opened sharply weaker against the dollar on Thursday after the greenback's global strength pushed the Chinese central bank to fix a sharply weaker official guidance rate.
The dollar index strengthened 0.8 percent overnight and continued its rally in early Asian trade on Thursday as an improvement in global sentiment led investors to trim bearish positions.
Prior to the Chinese market opening, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) set the midpoint rate at 6.4891 per dollar, 0.5 percent weaker than the previous fix of 6.4591, the official guidance rate's biggest daily weakening since Jan 7.
Spot yuan opened at 6.4860 per dollar and touched an intraday low of 6.4947 in early trade, or 0.3 percent weaker than Wednesday's close of 6.4770.
