The euro rose against the dollar on Friday amid continued concerns about the effects of the high oil price on growth as OPEC ministers prepared for a key informal meeting in Amsterdam.
The euro was being quoted at US$1.2009 from US$1.2066 early in the afternoon and US$1.1969 late on Thursday.
The dollar was at ¥112.08 from ¥111.99 earlier and ¥112,75 in New York late on Thursday.
The euro, which had fallen to US$1.1895 late on Thursday, rallied to US$1.2072 in early afternoon trading and then eased in late trading in Europe.
At BNP Paribas bank, economist Iain Stannard commented: "Investors have all their attention on Amsterdam to see which signals members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are going to send."
The dollar, which had slipped against all currencies in early trading, rallied later after Saudi Arabia, the main OPEC producer, had said in Amsterdam that it would propose that OPEC increase its production quotas by more than 2.0 million barrels per day.
In this context, traders will watch closely a meeting of finance ministers from the G7 industrialized countries and Russia in New York this weekend.
Sterling rose strongly after the Bank of England had published data showing that UK consumers were hungry for credit in April.
"The scenario for a rate increase in June was strengthened by these figures," said Marc Chandler, an economist at HSBC.
The euro was being quoted at US$1.2009 from US$1.1969 late on Thursday, at ¥134.60 from ¥134.55, £0.6712 from £0.6729 and 1.5371 Swiss francs from SF1.5371.
The dollar was at ¥112.80 from ¥112.75 and SF1.2789 from SF1.2852.
Sterling was at US$1.7890 from US$1.7774, ¥200.63 from ¥200.37 and SF2.2887 from SF2.2843 late on Thursday.
The price of gold was US$385.30 an ounce at the fixing here from US$339.50 on Thursday.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
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