China allows the yuan to gain vs the dollar. A little.

Perhaps responding to my What's Up With the Yuan? post, China has just allowed to yuan to gain value against the dollar - just not very much, a mere .1%. This brings the currency's value to below 8 yuan to the dollar, which the NY Times notes is an important psychological threshold in its value (I had no idea). The last time the yuan was valued at this level was in 1994. Reacting to yuan's gain, some Asian markets dropped precipitously, anticipating further increases in the currency leading to a dampening effect on China's exports, which could have consequences for the entire regional economy. In recent weeks the dollar has been declining dramatically against the euro, pound, and yen as well, though it began regaining some value today.