MNI: The yuan is expected to fluctuate in a small....>

MNI: The yuan is expected to fluctuate in a small range in the period ahead even

though the dollar could strengthen, the China Securities Journal reported

Friday. The short-term outlook will depend largely on the trend of the dollar

and so the U.S. tax reform process will be a key factor affecting the yuan,

unidentified market experts were cited as saying. The two-way fluctuation of

both the dollar index and the yuan against the dollar will be more pronounced,

the experts told the newspaper said. Guotaijunan Securities said strong U.S.

economic fundamentals, such as the high October PMI and consumer confidence

index, the greater chance that U.S. tax reform will be approved, as well as the

possibility of a Fed interest rate hike in December could well cause the dollar

to strengthen, so the room for the yuan to appreciate is not large. But the

newspaper cited other analysts saying China's strong economic growth and a

positive outlook of its trade would help stabilize the yuan. (China Securities

Journal)