The New Taiwan dollar on Friday advanced NT$0.013 against the US dollar to close at NT$30.888, gaining 0.04 percent for the week.
Turnover totaled US$769 million during the trading session.
The greenback opened at the day’s high of NT$30.910 and moved to a low of NT$30.870 before the close.
Elsewhere on Friday, the US dollar fell broadly and was on track for its biggest weekly drop in more than three months, dragged lower by weak US economic data, while the euro climbed higher.
US manufacturing output last month fell for a second straight month and factory activity in New York state was weaker than expected this month, offering further evidence of a sharp slowdown in economic growth early in the first quarter.
Friday’s reports extended the streak of weak economic data and underscored the US Federal Reserve’s “patient” stance toward further interest rate increases this year.
Fed officials are scheduled to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday next week to assess the economy and deliberate on the future course of monetary policy.
The US central bank raised rates four times last year.
“Data today on factory growth and the Empire State index also underwhelmed. Consequently, the Fed next week is likely to keep in wait-and-see mode on interest rates, a cautious stance that’s checked the [US] dollar’s rise,” Western Union Business Solutions LLC senior market analyst Joe Manimbo said.
The US dollar index was 0.28 percent lower at 96.511 and set for its biggest weekly loss since the first week of December last year.
The move in the US dollar sent the euro up 0.32 percent to US$1.1339.
While no change in rates is expected next week after the Fed paused a multiyear rate-hiking cycle in January, officials might strike a more cautious view on the outlook for the global economy after a volatile week in currency markets.
The pound paused for breath, but stayed on course for its biggest weekly gain in seven weeks on growing expectations that Britain will not crash out of the EU without a deal on March 29.
Sterling last traded at US$1.3271, below Wednesday’s nine-month high of US$1.3380, but up 2 percent this week, the biggest such gain since late January after the British parliament voted to seek a delay in the UK’s exit from the EU, following a decision to avert a “no-deal” Brexit.
“The market has some reassurance that the chances of a no-deal Brexit are very low, which is the reason why the currency market has taken this news as a positive. These votes have removed the worst-care scenario,” Neuberger Berman head of global currency Ugo Lancioni said in London.
The yen remained firm after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady, but tempered its optimism that robust exports and factory output would underpin growth, boosting to its perceived safe-haven status.
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