The dollar fell this morning as concerns were raised by China's statistical office that the company should diversify its foreign exchange reserves.

This morning a dollar was worth 7.9870 yuan and the Chinese currency was at 10.1023 to the euro and 14.7748 to the pound.

However, the comments by the Chinese statistics bureau had a limited effect as Mitsuru Sahara, a senior trader at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ explained to Reuters: "The news hit the market amid a dearth of fresh factors.

"But the losses were limited as investors are not actively trading ahead of key data."

China has the world's biggest foreign-currency holdings, which have grown recently through surging earnings from exports and foreign investment.