SHANGHAI, April 1 (Reuters) - China"s yuan weakened on Thursday as bets that fiscal stimulus and an aggressive vaccine schedule in the United States would lead to faster growth kept the dollar near a five-month high, and as a survey showed slower growth at China"s factories. The weaker yuan came even after the People"s Bank of China broke a six-day streak of weaker daily fixings for the currency"s midpoint, setting it at 6.5584 per dollar from the previous fix of 6.5713. Spot yuan opened at 6.5550 per dollar and softened to 6.5681 by midday, 163 pips weaker than Wednesday"s late session close. The offshore yuan dipped to 6.5779 per dollar from a close of 6.5640. "With the pandemic raising its head again in Europe and the dollar"s momentum looking good, the yuan still faces pressure," said a trader at a Chinese bank. Traders said the yuan"s downside was likely limited in the near term by corporate demand for dollar sales, but said a strong rise in the dollar index - possibly around closely watched U.S. non-farm payroll data due Friday - could affect market expectations. The yuan logged its worst month since August 2019 in March, as expectations of a quick U.S. economic recovery and rising Treasury yields have buoyed the dollar. U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday set the stage for further spending to boost the world"s largest economy, with a $2 trillion proposal to create millions of jobs around infrastructure, tackling climate change and boosting human services such as care for the elderly. A Reuters poll of foreign exchange strategists showed expectations that faster growth and higher yields will continue to lift the greenback for at least another month, though it also indicated the dollar is seen weakening over the next 12 months. The global dollar index was at 93.231 on Thursday after touching a five-month high of 93.439 a day earlier. "We maintain our USD-CNY forecast of 6.3 for end-H1-2021, and expect a reversal to 6.45 by year-end. The CNY is likely to remain supported by China"s solid economic recovery and increasing capital inflows," said Qi Gao, Asia FX Strategist at Scotiabank. But while underlying economic conditions in China remain positive, a private survey showed China"s factory activity expanded at the slowest pace in almost a year in March on softer overall domestic demand. The yuan market at 4:12AM GMT: ONSHORE SPOT: Item Current Previous Change PBOC midpoint 6.5584 6.5713 0.20% Spot yuan 6.5681 6.5518 -0.25% Divergence from 0.15% midpoint* Spot change YTD -0.61% Spot change since 2005 26.01% revaluation Key indexes: Item Current Previous Change Thomson 96.63 96.81 -0.2 Reuters/HKEX CNH index Dollar index 93.231 93.204 0.0 *Divergence of the dollar/yuan exchange rate. Negative number indicates that spot yuan is trading stronger than the midpoint. The People"s Bank of China (PBOC) allows the exchange rate to rise or fall 2% from official midpoint rate it sets each morning. OFFSHORE CNH MARKET Instrument Current Difference from onshore Offshore spot yuan 6.5779 -0.15% * Offshore 6.7577 -2.95% non-deliverable forwards ** *Premium for offshore spot over onshore **Figure reflects difference from PBOC"s official midpoint, since non-deliverable forwards are settled against the midpoint. . (Reporting by Andrew Galbraith; Additional reporting by Jindong Zhang; Editing by Christopher Cushing)