The yuan ended unchanged at 8.2764 per US dollar on Monday, near the stronger end of its managed trading range. The one-year non-deliverable dollar forward discount versus the yuan was at 3,200 points, implying a rate of 7.958 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 5.60/6.75 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 was a paltry $670 million on Monday. The yuan ended firmer at 7.8261 against 100 Japanese yen from 7.8460 on Friday. It also strengthened against the euro to 10.8082 from 10.8147.

Copyright Reuters, 2005