The New Taiwan dollar on Friday slid against the US dollar, shedding NT$0.002 to close at NT$31.042, losing 0.2 percent from NT$30.980 a week earlier.
Turnover totaled US$827 million during the trading session.
The greenback opened at NT$31.060, moving between NT$31.005 and NT$31.075 before the close.
Elsewhere on Friday, the euro was pinned at more than two-year lows as a steady drip of negative economic data this week sapped investor demand for the single currency while the US dollar benefited from some quarter-end rebalancing flows.
Dismal business activity data from the eurozone, especially powerhouse economy Germany at the start of the week, has pushed European bond yields lower across the board, with concerns about a weak economy in Britain also weighing.
“We have had a steady drip of weak data from the eurozone this week and that is highlighting the differences between the US and Europe, where the former is still showing signs of strength,” Commerzbank AG analyst Thu Lan Nguyen said.
Against the greenback, the euro held firm at US$1.0927, just above a May 2017 low of US$1.0904.
Versus a basket of its rivals, the US dollar pushed 0.1 percent higher to 99.21, its highest in more than three weeks.
Strong data in the US have pushed an economic surprise data index published by Citigroup Inc to its highest since February last year.
In comparison, a similar index on Europe has fallen dramatically in the past several days, signaling slowing economic activity.
Sterling was the other big loser in London trading after Bank of England policymaker Michael Saunders hinted at looser monetary policy if Brexit uncertainty remained prolonged against a backdrop of disappointing global growth.
The pound on Friday weakened 0.3 percent to a new two-week low of US$1.2285 as his comments raised expectations that the next move from the central bank could be a rate cut.
Markets were also digesting an impeachment probe launched into US President Donald Trump, as well as the latest headlines from a trade dispute between the US and China.
A whistle-blower complaint released on Thursday said that Trump not only abused his office in attempting to solicit Ukraine’s interference in next year’s US presidential election, but the White House tried to “lock down” evidence about it.
Meanwhile, China’s top diplomat said that Beijing was willing to buy more US products.
CNBC reported that trade talks were on track and scheduled to start on Oct. 10 in Washington, citing people familiar with the arrangements.
Elsewhere, the US dollar eased against the trade-sensitive Australian and New Zealand dollars, which gently rallied on hopes that next month’s US-China trade talks will bring progress.
However, moves were slight and neither strayed far from two-week troughs against the greenback.
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