THE yuan inched up against the U.S. dollar yesterday, supported by a firmer yuan midpoint and slight weakness in the greenback.

But market participants expect the Chinese currency to move only marginally in the near term.

The dollar eased fractionally against a basket of other major currencies yesterday morning as solid U.S. job growth data were offset by weaker-than-expected wage gains, suggesting the U.S. Federal Reserve would not quicken its monetary tightening pace this year.

Prior to market opening, the People’s Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.3333 per dollar, 118 pips, or 0.19 percent, firmer than Friday’s fix of 6.3451.

Traders said the Chinese currency was tracking the dollar’s movements overseas in morning trade.

Several traders said the yuan has not figured out a clear direction and expect the onshore spot rate to stay between 6.30 and 6.36 per dollar in the near term.

Tommy Xie, economist at OCBC Bank in Singapore, said the yuan was expected to remain stable this week as the annual meeting of parliament was still going on in Beijing.

“We don’t expect any major talking points about currency from the meeting,” Xie said in a note yesterday.

“We think it is the right direction for China to further loosen its grip on outflows.”

The meeting opened March 5 and is scheduled to end Tuesday next week.

Trade issues between the United States and China remained a market focus. Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said Sunday that any trade war with Washington would only bring disaster to the world economy, as China stepped up its criticism of U.S. metals tariffs. (SD-Agencies)