The Chinese yuan weakened by 1.06 percent against a basket of currencies in August, according to data released by the China Foreign Exchange Trade System Thursday.

The yuan exchange rate composite index, which measures the yuan's strength relative to a basket of currencies including the U.S. dollar, euro and Japanese yen, came in at 94.33 at the end of August, down from 95.34 a month earlier.

Analysts attributed the depreciation to stronger market expectations for an interest rate hike in the United States by year-end after recent hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve officials.

The yuan exchange rate composite index was first released in December 2015 to offer a more comprehensive reflection of exchange-rate changes. Previously, analysts mainly fixated on the yuan-U.S. dollar rate.

In August, the index that measures the yuan against the Bank for International Settlements currency basket weakened by 1.1 percent month on month to 95.04, while that against the Special Drawing Rights basket weakened by 0.92 percent from a month earlier to 95.11, according to the CFETS.

Source : XINHUA