China’s yuan holds steady in light Lunar New Year trade

SHANGHAI, Feb 9 (Reuters) – China’s yuan held steady against a broadly firmer dollar in holiday-thinned trading on Friday, with a persistently firmer-than-expected official midpoint guidance fix supporting the local currency. The yuan swung in an extremely tight range, while trading volume contracted to $3.9 billion from a normal half-day volume of about $15 billion. Activity was very subdued on the last trading day before the Lunar New Year break, dealers said, as a vast majority of market participants have already gone on holidays. The traditional festival will start from Feb. 10, with the markets reopening on Feb. 19. Prior to the market opening, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) set the midpoint rate, around which the yuan is allowed…