Business news for Mon, 24 Dec 2007 & with words dollar+trading. 6 news.

THE yuan climbed to the strongest since a link to the US dollar was scrapped two years ago after the central bank said exchange-rate flexibility will rise, spurring speculation it plans to widen the daily trading band. The yuan rose 0.3 percent to 7.3475 per US dollar at 5:30pm in Shanghai, bringing gains this month to 0.7 percent. The central bank set the reference rate at 7.3315 yesterday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. The rate touched 7.3405 yesterday, the highest since the peg ended in July 2005. The People's Bank of China said in a statement last Friday that it will let the market play a bigger role in setting the exchange rate.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Gold futures rose for a second straight trading day on Monday as the dollar fell against a basket of other major currencies. Copper futures rose for a fourth day. Gold futures for February delivery rose $1.1, or 0.1%, to $816.5 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Copper futures for March delivery rallied 5.6 cents, or 1.8%, to $3.1535 a pound. Copper has risen more than 10% since Dec. 19. The dollar index, which tracks the value of the dollar against a basket of other major currencies, fell for a second day, down 0.2% at 77.57. A weaker dollar tends to increase the appeal of dollar-denominated gold as an investment haven.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar ticked higher against the yen while losing ground against the euro Monday, but remained in recent ranges in extremely thin trading ahead of the Christmas holiday. "The U.S. economic calendar is empty on Monday, and we expect the greenback to remain rangebound through the morning session," wrote currency analysts at Action Economics. The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, was at 77.595, compared with 77.730 late Friday. The euro was trading at $1.4396, up from $1.4356 late Friday, while the pound was at $1.9773, down from $1.9810. Against Japan's currency, the dollar was buying 114.29 yen, up from 114.06 yen Friday.

SAN FRANCISCO(MarketWatch) -- Gold futures were little changed on Monday ahead of the Christmas holiday. Gold futures for February delivery were last up $1.4, or 0.2%, at $816.8 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The futures rose to an intraday high of $817.5 earlier. In currencies trading, the dollar were slightly lower against a basket of other major currencies. The dollar index was last down 0.2% at 77.58.

Ahead of a shortened pre-Christmas trading session, global signals are mixed for North American stock markets while the Canadian dollar has climbed above 101 cents US.

Vietnam has allowed commercial banks to trade US dollars more freely against the Vietnamese dong, given a rising dollar inflow, widening the trading band to plus or minus 0.75% from 0.5%