The yuan ended flat at 8.2765 per US dollar on Wednesday, near the stronger end of its managed trading range. The one-year non-deliverable dollar forward discount versus the yuan was at 2,900 points, implying a rate of 7.988 yuan per dollar in 12 months' time. NDFs are a transaction where a forward price is agreed between a customer and a bank, but settlement on the value date is undertaken entirely in US dollars. One-year implied yuan volatility was traded at 5.50/6.00 percent.

Implied volatility is a measure of how much the options market expects the price of the underlying asset to move during the life of the option.

The yuan moves in a band of 8.2760 to 8.2800 enforced by the central bank.

Turnover, a paltry $580 million on February 8, was not immediately available.

The yuan ended firmer at 7.8676 against 100 Japanese yen from 7.8790 on February 8, the last day of trade before the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, but softer against the euro at 10.7702 from 10.5620.

Copyright Reuters, 2005