1st LD-Writethru: China's yuan rises to 3-week high as dollar slips

The Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, continued its strength and rose to a more than three-week high against the U.S. dollar Friday.

The central parity rate of the yuan strengthened 173 basis points to 6.8456 against the U.S. dollar, edging up for the fourth consecutive day, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.

Zhu Jun, head of the international department at the central bank, dismissed the likelihood of substantial adjustment of the yuan in an interview with China Securities Journal Wednesday.

Zhu said that the yuan had fallen around 13 percent against the U.S. dollar compared with its high point, which was already a significant drop, and that the country's healthy international balance of payments would support the yuan's strength.

Overnight, the U.S. dollar traded lower against most major currencies amid uncertainties over the timing of Federal Reserve's next rate-hike.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was down 0.67 percent to 100.5 in late trading.

At her testimony before the Congress on Wednesday, Fed Chair Janet Yellen signaled more than two rate-hikes this year as the U.S. economy continued to make progress toward the maximum employment and price stability objectives. Endi