1st LD-Writethru: China's yuan weakens on USD strength

BEIJING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- The central parity rate of the Chinese currency yuan Wednesday weakened against the U.S. dollar, after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's remarks lifted the greenback.

After strengthening for three consecutive trading days, the central parity rate of the yuan weakened 148 basis points to 6.3294 against the dollar, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

The dollar strength came after Powell, in his first Congress testimony, said that despite recent volatility of the financial market, Fed governors still plan on hiking rates multiple times throughout 2018.

Analysts said Powell's hawkish comments bolstered market speculations for as many as three rate-hikes later this year.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, was up 0.52 percent at 90.329 in late trading.

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. Enditem