The yuan rose to within 0.1 percent of a 19-year high after the central bank raised its daily fixing for the currency for the first time this week.

The People's Bank of China boosted the yuan's reference rate by 0.05 percent to 6.2762 per dollar. The currency is allowed to trade as much as 1 percent on either side of the fixing. The move was prompted by the yen's gains against the dollar after the Bank of Japan deferred new monetary stimulus, said Khoon Goh, a senior strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd.

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