Yuan touches 16-month low against dollar

China's yuan currency extended its downtrend against the dollar Wednesday to touch a 16-month low, despite the country's central bank fixing its trading point for the unit at a higher level. The unit fell to as low as 6.2466 to the dollar, its weakest level since December 2012, according to Dow Jones Newswires. But it closed at 6.2373, only slightly weaker than Tuesday's close of 6.2370, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The People's Bank of China had set the mid-point for trading at 6.1599, compared with 6.1610 on Tuesday. The PBoC keeps a grip on the currency but allows it to move up or down two percent on either side of a daily-set point, according to AFP.