China set a firmer official guidance rate for the yuan on Thursday.

The People's Bank of China set the yuan's midpoint rate at 6.6255 per dollar, firmer than the previous fix 6.6530.

In the spot market, the yuan was up slightly in early morning trade on the stronger fixing, but weakened in the afternoon session to around 6.6395.

Analysts say the yuan has stabilized somewhat recently as capital outflows have eased and the markets have adjusted their expectations for the US Fed's rate hike process.