The euro rose for the first time in four weeks against the US dollar as optimism Greece would solve its sovereign-debt problems and stave off a default increased after lawmakers approved fiscal austerity measures.
The euro strengthened the most against the Swiss franc in more than two years after Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won approval of two bills to authorize his 78 billion euro (US$113 billion) package of budget cuts and asset sales, a key to receiving further international financial aid.
The Dollar Index fell the most since January and the franc weakened against its 16 most-traded peers as investors sought higher-yielding currencies. The European Central Bank (ECB) is forecast to raise interest rates next week.
The euro rose 2.4 percent to US$1.4526, from US$1.4188 last week, and reached US$1.4552, the highest level since June 9. It strengthened 2.9 percent to ¥117.42, from ¥114.13. The yen fell 0.5 percent to ¥80.83 per US dollar, from ¥80.43 last week.
The euro has gained 3 percent this year against nine other developed-nation currencies, according to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes. The greenback has declined 6 percent.
The euro was also supported as traders increased bets the ECB would raise its policy interest rate, pushing euribor futures lower.
The Swiss franc tumbled against its major peers as investors turned to riskier assets. It lost 1.7 percent to SF0.8478 per US dollar and slumped 4.1 percent to SF1.2316 per euro in the biggest drop since March 2009.
The pound posted its biggest weekly decline in a month against the euro as signs that the UK recovery was faltering reduced the scope for interest-rate increases from the Bank of England.
The pound slid 1.6 percent this week to £0.9035 per euro as of 4:32pm in London on Friday, but it gained 0.7 percent against the greenback to trade at US$1.6069 and added 1.2 percent against the Japanese currency at ¥129.87.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six