Yuan ends flat vs dollar after steady mid-point

* Central bank seen continuing stable yuan policy

* China's Oct new loans hit 300-400 bln yuan -report

SHANGHAI, Nov 3 - Spot yuan ended flat against the dollar on Tuesday after the Chinese central bank set its mid-point almost unchanged, reflecting China's intention to keep the yuan stable for now.

Spot yuan closed at 6.8280 on Tuesday, almost unchanged from Monday's close of 6.8279.

The Chinese central bank fixed the yuan's daily mid-point, or reference rate, at 6.8279 versus the dollar, almost unchanged from Monday's 6.8282.

Dealers said the steady stance on the mid-point meant the People's Bank of China was not in a hurry to adjust its stable yuan policy in the near term.

China revalued the yuan against the dollar in 2005 and allowed it to steadily appreciate until the middle of last year, but then re-established a virtual peg against the U.S. currency to help cushion its economy against the impact of the crisis.

"The central bank is sending a signal that it would not change its stable yuan policy for now. That has turned the spot yuan trade quiet," said a dealer at an Asian bank in Shanghai.

The Shanghai Securities News reported on Tuesday that new bank lending in China may have hit 300-400 billion yuan ($44-59 billion) in October, broadly in line with market expectations.

Offshore, benchmark one-year dollar/yuan non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) was little changed at 6.6681 bid late on Tuesday compared with Monday's close of 6.6500.

Twelve-month yuan appreciation implied by NDFs, which moves inversely with the forwards, fell slightly to 2.40 percent measured from the Chinese central bank's daily mid-point, compared with 2.68 percent implied at Monday's close.