Yuan slightly stronger against other currencies in November: Index

BEIJING - The yuan appreciated slightly against a basket of currencies in November with mild fluctuations, according to an index released by financial services provider China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS).

The yuan exchange rate composite index, which measures the yuan's strength relative to a basket of 13 currencies including the US dollar, euro and Japanese yen, came in at 94.68 at the end of November.

That marked a 0.49 percent increase from a month earlier, CFETS said in an article published on its website Tuesday.

Due to stronger expectations of an interest rate increase by the US Federal Reserve and easing political uncertainties after the presidential election, the US dollar have moved upwards last month, as the yuan depreciated 1.69 percent against the dollar.

But compared with other currencies, the yuan has slightly strengthened, suggesting it remains basically stable, the article said.

With China's economy showing increasing signs of stabilizing, the currency has the conditions to stay stable at a reasonable and balanced level, it said.

China overhauled its exchange rate mechanism last August, making it more market-based and setting the yuan's value with more reference to a basket of currencies instead of the dollar alone.

The composite index was first released in December 2015 to offer a more comprehensive reflection of exchange-rate changes. Previously, market watchers had mainly fixated on the yuan-US dollar rate.

In November, the index that measures the yuan against the Bank for International Settlements currency basket strengthened to 95.95, up 0.93 percent from October, while against the Special Drawing Rights basket it weakened to 95.26, down 0.27 percent, according to the CFETS.