The Taiwan dollar fell, the biggest fluctuation of any currency yesterday, as investors abroad sold shares this week on concern relations with China will deteriorate after the Beijing government passed its "Anti-Secession" Law.
The currency was headed for its biggest weekly percentage loss since July 2002 as investors abroad made net sales of stocks for four straight days, yesterday selling the most in almost a year. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on March 16 said a million people will join a March 26 protest against the Chinese law, which would authorize an attack should Taiwan declare independence.
"Some people are nervous about the issue, weighing on the Taiwan dollar," said Tarcisio Tong, a currency trader at Union Bank of Taiwan (
The currency fell NT$0.06 against its US counterpart to close at NT$31.152 in Taipei on turnover of US$840 million yesterday, bringing the weekly decline to 1.2 percent, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
The loss for the week would be the biggest on a percentage basis since the seven days ending July 26, 2002. It would also be the first weekly decline since the first week of January.
Taiwan's dollar may slide to NT$31.20 next week, Tong said.
The world's biggest movers are based on changes in price or yield and are screened for the size of the market and amount of daily trading.
Yesterday, investors based outside of Taiwan made net stock sales of US$390.7 million.
The local dollar also fell on concern the nation's central bank will sell the currency to protect exporters, which account for about half of the economy.
The bank may "enter the foreign-exchange market to make adjustments," governor Perng Fai-nan (
The Taipei-based Economic Daily News yesterday said Taiwan and South Korea may cooperate to counter speculative inflows of "hot money" that have pushed their currencies higher. Taiwan's deputy central bank governor Liang Fa-chin (梁發進) met Park Seung, the governor of the central bank in South Korea, the newspaper said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The