The US dollar snapped a three-day decline as US economic reports, including retail sales data, boosted the outlook for the economy.
The currency rose against most of its major peers after reports showed sales at US retailers rose more than forecast last month, while industrial production posted the strongest advance since January. Improving growth prospects help to bolster the case for the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates some time this year, with traders pricing in higher odds of a hike on Friday after the figures were released.
The greenback also strengthened alongside the yen as investors sought haven assets after Turkey’s army said it seized power.
“The US economy remains the rock in a sea of troubles, with enough momentum behind it to unhook itself from global uncertainties,” said Karl Schamotta, director of foreign-exchange research and strategy at Cambridge Global Payments in Toronto, which hedges currencies for companies.
The prospect of higher US borrowing costs will probably trigger another bout of dollar strength, he said.
More scope for the Fed to raise rates rekindles speculation of increased dollar allure based on tighter monetary policy in the US while central banks in Europe and Asia add to stimulus. That sentiment fueled a 20 percent gain for the dollar in the past two years, before the greenback slumped this year as the outlook for divergence dwindled.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index rose 0.4 percent as of 5pm in New York, halting a three-day decline. The dollar gained 0.8 percent to US$1.1035 per euro.
The yen and greenback climbed late on Friday amid reports that warplanes flew over the Turkish capital and tanks blocked roads in Istanbul.
The yen gained 0.5 percent to ¥104.88 per US dollar, paring its weekly loss to 4.3 percent.
“The safe haven currencies are performing for now and that includes the yen and gold,” as well as the dollar, Toronto-based Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce senior foreign exchange and macro strategist Bipan Rai said by e-mail. “We’re seeing emerging-market currencies come off a bit on the news — led by the lira. It certainly doesn’t help that this is happening at an illiquid time of the week.”
Hedge funds and other money managers boosted net bullish futures bets on the dollar for the first time in three weeks, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Net long positions outnumbered bearish wagers by 96,234 contracts, compared with 81,952 a week earlier, the data showed.
Traders see a 38 percent probability the US central bank will raise interest rates by year-end, up from 35 percent on Thursday, as the economy shows signs of resilience.
The US dollar tumbled to its lowest level in almost a year against the New Taiwan dollar at one point on Friday and ended up shedding NT$0.083 to close at NT$31.99, from NT$32.306 on Thursday last week, as foreign investors continued to move funds into the region, dealers said.
Taiwanese markets were closed on Friday last week due to Typhoon Nepertak.
Gains by other regional currencies against the greenback and strong foreign institutional buying in the local bourse put pressure on the US dollar throughout the session, they said.
The US dollar fell to the lowest it has been against the NT dollar since Aug. 10 last year, when it closed at NT$31.76.
The greenback opened on Friday at the day’s high of NT$32.12, and moved to a low of NT$31.926 before rebounding. Turnover totaled US$999 million during the trading session.
The US dollar came under pressure soon after the local foreign exchange market opened as funds from abroad continued to flow into the country, dealers said.
Foreign investors have stepped up their movement of funds to Asia as sentiment over the global economy has improved, helped by fading concerns over the Brexit vote and hints from the Bank of England that it will loosen its monetary policy soon.
Without the need for the US dollar to serve as a safe haven, currency traders scrambled to buy into non-US dollar assets, boosting regional currencies such as South Korea’s won.
A stronger won prompted traders here to pick up the NT dollar, dealers said.
Aggressive foreign institutional buying in Taiwan’s stock market also boosted the Taiwan currency against the greenback.
The British pound declined on Friday, reversing earlier gains versus the US dollar, after better-than-expected US retail sales and manufacturing data.
Sterling weakened against most of its G10 peers as Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane signaled policy easing would likely be required to bolster the British economy after the country voted to leave the EU.
The pound pared its best week since March against the US currency, having advanced earlier as the appointment of Theresa May as British prime minister returned a sense of political stability to the UK and the Bank of England unexpectedly kept interest rates unchanged.
The pound declined 1.1 percent to US$1.3194 as of 5:03pm London time, having climbed earlier to US$1.3481, the highest since June 30. That pared this week’s gain to 1.9 percent, the most since March 4. Sterling weakened 0.6 percent to £83.81 pence per euro. It strengthened 1.7 percent in the week, the most since May 27.
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
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained