Turning to other news... the yuan weakened to 6.5 against USD on Thursday, after it climbed to its highest level in more than three months as the US dollar stumbled on the first trading day of 2018. How long can the growing momentum continue? Guan Xin tells us more.

2017 was a great year for the yuan. Government showed that the yuan's midpoint rate rose over 4000 basis points against the US dollar last year. That was a 5.8 increase in its value. An improving domestic forex market contributed to the yuan's rally after the government introduced a counter-cyclical factor in setting the currency' daily fixing last May. A better-than-expected national economy also boosted investors' outlooks as the China's financial de-leveraging efforts continue.

Analysts also noted that the yuan's rise was also due to a lackluster performance in the US dollar last year. The dollar's value dropped 10 percent against a basket of global currencies in 2017. That was the currency's worst performance since 2003. The Fed's rate hikes, approval of tax reforms and the nation's massive debt were behind the dollar's decline.

Analysts said the prospects of a stable Chinese economy this year can help avoid turbulence in the foreign exchange market. They also said that the dollar-yuan exchange rate was expected to move between 6.45~6.90 in 2018. In addition, analysts predict a strong performance by the yuan against the euro this year. That's because of political instabilities in the bloc and that the European central bank is set to cut its stimulus package by half this year.