The US dollar firmed slightly on Friday as market participants positioned for next week's interest-rate decision and a possible signal that the US rate-hiking cycle may be nearing an end.
The euro dipped to US$1.1807 at 10pm GMT from US$1.1818 late on Thursday in New York.
The US dollar rose to ?120.99 from ?120.33 on Thursday.
The greenback stabilized on the back of a gain in a measure of US consumer sentiment and another report showing tight wholesale inventories relative to sales.
On the US rate front, the US Federal Reserve is widely expected to lift its benchmark rate by another quarter point to 4.25 percent on Tuesday.
The market's focus, however, will be on the accompanying statement and whether the Fed will continue to say that it plans to remove accommodative monetary policy at a "measured" pace.
"Next Tuesday's Federal Open Market Committee decision should produce the 13th rate hike of the 18-month long tightening campaign," said Ashraf Laidi, chief currency strategist at MG Financial Group.
"But it is the wording of the FOMC statement that once again should capture the interest of the markets on the basis that the Fed may need signal a near-term conclusion to the campaign," Laidi said.
Still, many analysts said they expect additional rate hikes from the US central bank that would wide, at least in the short term, the rate differential that has been attracting investors to the US dollar.
"We continue to forecast two more 25 basis-point moves from the Fed, with the funds rate peaking at 4.5 percent," UBS chief economist Maury Harris said.
Diane Swonk at Mesirow Financial said the Ben Bernanke, who takes over as Fed chairman from Alan Greenspan on Jan. 31, will want to boost rates at least once "to establish his inflation-fighting credibility with financial market participants."
In late trade, the US dollar stood at 1.3027 Swiss francs from SF1.2997 on Thursday.
The pound was being traded at US$1.7546 after US$1.7556 on Thursday.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased 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 snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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