China's central bank set the midpoint rate of the yuan firmer on Tuesday from the prior session's six-week low. That came as a dollar rally lost momentum on renewed doubts of a near-term rate increase by the U.S. Fed.

The People's Bank of China set the midpoint rate at 6.6812 per dollar prior to market open, firmer than the previous fix at 6.6856. The spot yuan opened at 6.6811 per dollar and closed at 6.6800. That was 10 points lower than the close on Monday but 38 points higher than Monday's night trade close.

The dollar took a breather on Tuesday, as investors waited to see if U.S. employment data later this week would reinforce Yellen's upbeat speech.