China's milestone move to widen the yuan's trading band will give banks and companies the most space to speculate on the currency since the country established its foreign exchange market in 1994. In the near term, the widening of the band to 1 percent from 0.5 percent from the central bank's mid-point is unlikely to alter market views for a gradual yuan appreciation of around 2 to 3 percent this year, traders said. But the move, announced by the People's Bank of China on Saturday, sends a strong signal that the days of non-stop, one-way appreciation in the yuan against the dollar are gone forever, traders said. ... (full story)