Vs Parity Pvs USD/CNY Central Parity 6.4441 6.4419 USD/CNY OTC 0830 GMT 6.4341 -0.16% 6.4382 High 6.4425 -0.02% Low 6.4330 -0.17% SHANGHAI (Dow Jones)--China's yuan rose against the U.S. dollar late Wednesday, hitting an intraday record high, tracking the euro's gains against the U.S. currency in the afternoon because of the Swiss central bank's surprise announcement of measures to halt the Swiss franc's gains. On the over-the-counter market, the dollar was at CNY6.4341 around 0830 GMT, down from Tuesday's close of CNY6.4382. It traded between CNY6.4330, its lowest level since China's landmark currency reforms of 2005, and CNY6.4425. The yuan has risen 6.1% against the U.S. unit since June 2010, when China effectively ended its currency's two-year-long peg to the dollar and pledged to make the yuan more flexible. The euro rose rapidly against the dollar Wednesday after the Swiss central bank cut its key lending rate to zero and took other steps short of outright intervention in the foreign-exchange market to halt the currency's sharp rise. The euro was at $1.4278 at 0830 GMT, up from $1.4200 late Tuesday in New York. "Onshore traders' yuan appreciation expectations are so strong that they made full use of the dollar's weakness despite the fact the central bank guided the yuan lower in the morning," said a trader at a foreign bank based in Guangdong. The People's Bank of China set the dollar-yuan central parity rate at 6.4441, up from Tuesday's 6.4419, following the dollar's gains late Tuesday in New York. The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. dollar against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, was at 74.472 late Tuesday in New York, up from 74.329 late Monday. At 0852 GMT, the dollar index was at 74.305. Traders said the global foreign-exchange market could be volatile in the near term but that they generally expected the dollar to remain weak. "I expect the U.S. to continue to print money in light of its fiscal deficit," said a trader at a foreign bank based in Shanghai. Offshore, one-year dollar-yuan nondeliverable forwards fell to 6.3580/6.3620 from 6.3670/6.3700 late Tuesday, implying a 1.2% rise in the yuan against the U.S. currency over the next year. In the offshore yuan market in Hong Kong, where the Chinese currency floats freely, the dollar-yuan exchange rate was at 6.4265 late Wednesday, up from 6.4235 late Tuesday. -Wynne Wang contributed to this article, Dow Jones Newswires; (86-21) 6120-1200; wynne.wang@dowjones.com

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