The yuan fell slightly against the U.S. dollar Friday for the fifth straight day and dealers said the central bank was suspected of taking advantage of the dollar's firmness on global markets to slow the yuan's climb.

The yuan finished at 7.8718 to the dollar, marginally lower than Thursday's finish of 7.8715. The yuan traded lower for almost the entire day, slipping as far as 7.8750, before rallying in the final two hours of trade.

The central bank set the yuan's daily mid-point at 7.8745 Friday morning, weaker than Thursday's 7.8733. This reflected overnight strength of the dollar globally, but was also seen as a sign of the central bank's attitude toward the exchange rate.

"Some large-sized dollar bids from the central bank kept the yuan stable, mostly at a lower rate than Thursday. The central bank was suspected of buying dollars late in the session in the previous two days," said a Shanghai dealer at a European bank.

"The central bank appears to aim to keep the yuan steady for a while after a faster pace of appreciation in the past couple of months."

Dealers said the yuan's fall over the past five days, a move totaling less than 0.1 percent, was symbolic, reflecting the central bank's desire that the currency should not appreciate without pause.

The yuan gained nearly 1 percent from Sept. 15 to last Monday, rising at an annual rate of 7 percent, its fastest pace of appreciation in any two-month period since the government revalued it by 2.1 percent and freed it from a dollar peg in July 2005.