The New Taiwan dollar climbed the most in six weeks on speculation investors will channel more funds into Asian assets as regional economies spearhead the recovery from a global recession.
The currency appreciated for a seventh straight day after a report indicated China’s manufacturing expanded last month for a 17th consecutive month and South Korea announced a bigger increase in exports last month than economists forecast.
The IMF last month predicted Asia’s developing economies will expand 9.2 percent this year, outpacing growth of 3.3 percent in the US and 1 percent in the 16-nation euro area.
“Asian economies are doing great compared to Europe and the US,” said Tarsicio Tong (湯健揚), a currency trader at Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行) in Taipei.
“We’ll continue to see Asian currencies rise steadily because of the region’s growth prospects,” he said.
Taiwan’s dollar rose 0.6 percent to close at NT$31.87 against its US counterpart, its biggest advance since June 21, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency earlier touched NT$31.80, the strongest level in almost six weeks.
China’s Purchasing Manager’s Index fell to 51.2 last month from 52.1 in June, the Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said on its Web site yesterday.
A reading above 50 indicates expansion. South Korea yesterday said its exports rose 29.6 percent from a year earlier last month, more than the 27.4 percent increase forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
The TAIEX rose 2 percent, the biggest gain in two months. Overseas investors pumped US$526 million into local stocks today, the largest net purchases in six weeks.
GDP climbed 13.3 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, boosted by increased exports to China. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the nation’s biggest listed company, last week announced record quarterly earnings of NT$40.3 billion (US$1.3 billion) for the three months through June.
Taiwan’s government bonds were little changed, with the yield on the 2 percent bond maturing in July 2015 at 0.928 percent, according to Gretai Securities Market, the nation’s biggest debt exchange.
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],”
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